Smoke On Morning Start Up!

[zthis]

Started my car this morning and I almost sharted in my jeans because large clouds of smoke blew out of my exhaust. It only lasted for a second but the one puff that came out was basically enough to cover the car! Can someone tell me if this has happened to them and what I must do to aid my baby. I have a 2001 996 c2 with 36,000mi and a 30,000mi service under its belt. I understand that going to a Porsche service department would be best for her but as long as I have a heads up on would could be the problem I can feel more secure with there diagnosis.

:unsure: :help:

[1999Porsche911]

Blue smoke generally means that oil has leaked down the valve stem and into the exhaust. It can also be oil that has passed by the oil rings and into the cylinder but it really depends on what color blue you saw. The daker blue (almost black) would make me lean downs oil in the cylinder. This, however, does not mean that your engine is damaged. This is not normal, but is common on many cars depending on how the car was driven last time out as well as how hard you drive the car on a regular basis.

Where do you live. In a hot climate? What oil are you using? Do your approach redline regularly? Any mods to the car?

[zthis]

The car has no mods and I seldom hit redline. It is my daily driver and its running Mobil 1 synthetic. I do get on it at times but not to frequent. The tint of the smoke was more white but had a light blue tint to it. The first time this happened I had a check engine light and my mass air sensor was bad so I replaced it. Ever since the new mass air sensor I have not seen this and that was three months ago. On my 30,000mi service Porsche techs found no problems or told me of any problems to look for so I've been pretty relaxed with my car. I guess I will drive it with precaution until I see it occur again. Do you think that is wise or should I take it in for a check up? I feel without the problem occurring during the check up that I'll just be stuck with a service charge but if it happens to me again then I will push them to find the problem.

[geza]

The car has no mods and I seldom hit redline. It is my daily driver and its running Mobil 1 synthetic. I do get on it at times but not to frequent. The tint of the smoke was more white but had a light blue tint to it.  The first time this happened I had a check engine light and my mass air sensor was bad so I replaced it. Ever since the new mass air sensor I have not seen this and that was three months ago. On my 30,000mi service Porsche techs found no problems or told me of any problems to look for so I've been pretty relaxed with my car. I guess I will drive it with precaution until I see it occur again. Do you think that is wise or should I take it in for a check up? I feel without the problem occurring during the check up that I'll just be stuck with a service charge but if it happens to me again then I will push them to find the problem.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Check your oil level when HOT - as stipulated in the owner's manual...........if above the full mark (check both the dipstick & electronic gauge) you may simply have a little too much oil in there - especially if the 30K service was very recent?

[plima]

White smoke is almost certainly excess fuel and not oil. I've seen this happen if the car is started from cold, shut off shortly thereafter, and then restarted. I think this results in an excess amount of fuel (cold start enrichment) and the white smoke when starting.

[zthis]

Thanks so much to everyone who has replied. I have started the car about three seperate times today and have not seen any smoke. They were all cold starts but not as cold as a overnight park. I guess I'll wait and see what happens this week and I will check my oil level. :thumbup:

[magcuda]

age old problem for 911s , it is a horizontally opposed engine and oil will get past the rings and burn off causing the smoke

[zthis]

Will this happen often or once a blue moon? Is there anything to prevent it? Kind of embarrassing if I'm out somewhere and my pricey speed yellow Porsche puffs out more smoke then a 70's Pinto. I guess I can tolerate it in my driveway early morning but out in public on a Saturday night is kind of :(

[magcuda]

no prevention, usually on cold starts when it has been sitting. if any one makes a comment say that only a true performance car does that