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Tonight, I took my 2005 997.1 C2 to Gingerman Raceway for a SCCA Track Night In America. I've been there before in a different car, but this is the first time I've ever had this car on track anywhere. (Side Note: I have 13 years of track experience driving a 350Z, Lotus Elise and 944 race car, along with two Skip Barber racing schools.) My 997 has 64K miles on it.
Long story short: Within 2 laps oil temps soared to 260F. I continued the session with short shifting and taking turns in 3rd instead of 2nd gear. This managed to bring oil temp down to a steady 250F. Since Mobil 1 starts breaking down at 260, I thought this was OK to finish the session. After the session was over and good cool down lap, I brought it in, shut it down, and lifted the boot lid to let it cool more. After about 10 minutes, I started it and got a fair amount of white smoke for about 2 - 4 seconds. Then it stopped. I shut it off and let it sit longer. Oil temps were down to under 200F. Started it again after 5 minutes and again white smoke for a few seconds and then it clears up. This kept happening for the rest of the night (I only did the one session).
I have no error codes other than brake sensors from the brake temps - which is fine. So my question is: Do you think I blew a head gasket or cracked a cylinder?
Assuming the smoke is from the exhaust pipes you didn't say if it was even or unbalanced. Smoking from one tailpipe can mean interior engine troubles. Both sides evenly could mean exterior engine issues like the AOS, not that expensive to fix.
Let it cool overnight then check coolant and oil levels before starting, including under the car for any puddles or leaks. When starting in the morning watch for how much smoke, the left to right balance, and the color (coolant burns white, oil burns bluish white).
I just had my AOS fail on track as well and what I think is what's going on is this.... you're AOS is letting oil slosh past the membrane and into the intake. You were running hot because you were probably loosing oil capacity becaus of this. The white smoke is form oil coating the intake, combustion chamber and exhaust system. When it burns away after a few minutes it stops. Replace the AOS ($200 part, $800 labor) change the oil and have a sample sent to blackstone for analysis. You're most likely fine. I was and mine was blowing smoke like a Mo_Fo.
Does adding the 3rd center radiator help cool the oil? I assume the oil on a 997.1 is cooled via the engine block, and not a dedicated oil cooler.
If you're going to track the car the 3rd radiator is a must. It not only keeps the temps down a little overall, it cools down faster if your car needs a break mid session. You can just easy up for half a lap and then get back to business.
Hey Conan,
Good to see you out there today and great to meet you. Hope everything turns out okay and it's just an AOS or something simpler.
Keep us posted here.
Cheers.
If you're going to track the car the 3rd radiator is a must. It not only keeps the temps down a little overall, it cools down faster if your car needs a break mid session. You can just easy up for half a lap and then get back to business.
Assuming the smoke is from the exhaust pipes you didn't say if it was even or unbalanced. Smoking from one tailpipe can mean interior engine troubles. Both sides evenly could mean exterior engine issues like the AOS, not that expensive to fix.
Let it cool overnight then check coolant and oil levels before starting, including under the car for any puddles or leaks. When starting in the morning watch for how much smoke, the left to right balance, and the color (coolant burns white, oil burns bluish white).
I've seen a lot of smoke at the track and it always looks white to me. Once a buddy's 993 let off a cloud of oil smoke so big outside of Columbus that I think it is still hanging around. He was in front of me and I could see nothing and hoping I didn't run into something before I stopped. The only way for me to differentiate smoke is if it smells like oil or coolant.
Assuming the smoke is from the exhaust pipes you didn't say if it was even or unbalanced.
It was from the tail pipes and seemed balanced.
Originally Posted by Hella-Buggin'
I just had my AOS fail on track as well and what I think is what's going on is this.... you're AOS is letting oil slosh past the membrane and into the intake. You were running hot because you were probably loosing oil capacity becaus of this. The white smoke is form oil coating the intake, combustion chamber and exhaust system. When it burns away after a few minutes it stops. Replace the AOS ($200 part, $800 labor) change the oil and have a sample sent to blackstone for analysis. You're most likely fine. I was and mine was blowing smoke like a Mo_Fo.
This sounds like good news except I would expect the oil smoke to be bluish, not white. But I'm going with this. Thanks!!
Hey Conan,
Good to see you out there today and great to meet you. Hope everything turns out okay and it's just an AOS or something simpler.
Keep us posted here.
Cheers.
Good to see you, too. I'm feeling a little less paranoid today since there wasn't any smoke when I started it. Drove fine.
Wanted to say I loved that roof rack for the tires. That's dedication to the sport.
If you're planning to do regular track days, you might also consider the MantsSport deep sump which will add 1.2L of oil capacity (helps with the cooling), keeps the internal baffle, and adds a windage tray.
Drain valve no longer there - replaced with LN Engineering Magnetic Drain Plug
I'm seeing 3rd radiator and oil pan extension. But do those really relate to a 20+ degree drop in temp? nwGTS was having the same temp problems so is this something endemic to 997's?
From my experience with other cars, oil temps shouldn't ever be above 230F even in the worst of conditions unless there's a cooling problem. I've thrashed cars in hotter temperatures, running at redline for a significant amount of time without ever going over 220F.
I'm seeing 3rd radiator and oil pan extension. But do those really relate to a 20+ degree drop in temp? nwGTS was having the same temp problems so is this something endemic to 997's?
From my experience with other cars, oil temps shouldn't ever be above 230F even in the worst of conditions unless there's a cooling problem. I've thrashed cars in hotter temperatures, running at redline for a significant amount of time without ever going over 220F.
I could get to 250 with hard street driving up the ACH. Third radiator brought it down ~15. Also when the bumper was off I cleaned out the radiators. There's a ton on crap that gets in them that you can't get out from just vacuuming.
Edit, also check white smoke on start up threads. Could be just another quark of the 911.
05-25-2016, 11:19 PM
Tracked and worried
