carrera 3.2 smoking..why?

[mikeacollins]

Hi guys. Need a bit of advice. I purchased my 3.2 carrera Targa about 6 months ago. It is a 2 owner car with only 49,000 miles on the clock. It has a full service history, serviced annually and I have all of the receipts. For some reason over the past 500 miles the car has started smoking on start up. It has only just started doing it and it is on start up only. Even stranger it does not always do it.... Sometimes if you take out of the garage to clean, put away and start the next day, loads of smoke. If it has been on a run and then you put it away, and start the next day possibly nothing... It is definately blue oil smoke, the oil is not over topped and is mobil 1. The car is faultless except for this. Has anyone any ideas what may be wrong. I am aware that a top end rebuild can be required at between 80 to 100k miles but his is only 49k and did not smoke at all 500 miles ago.... I use shell optima petrol. []

 

[Jonathan Collins]

This has been covered before somewhere or other, the answer is it is a feature of the 'flat' six dry sump engine not uncommon and nothing to be concerned about. It is said to be caused by oil in the engine passing piston rings or valve seals into the cylinders when not in use. Hence when you start the engine you see the blue smoke as it burns off as long as it clears straight away that is all it is.
Personally the car I have now does it and I nearly did not buy it because of it. When I went to look at the car it was the first thing I noticed so I looked around the net and found various mentions of this happening on all sorts of Porsche horizontally opposed engines.I was surprised as I have driven three other 911s and none of them did it, one was an 8 year old three litre s.c. that used to burn a pint every 500 miles but you never saw smoke at any time. The other two were brand new 3.2s a 1984 then an 85 both of these used small amounts of oil which was normal and again no smoke.
I now have an 89 3.2 and somedays it smokes on start up somedays it doesn't, if I just get it out of the garage (to get to the lawnmower) and then put it back (bad practice I know I always try and go out in the car first but then the lawn doesn't get cut!) I am more likely to get smoke the next time it is started. Also I have noticed if I put the car straight away after a run then there it smokes less when next started even if it a week later.I also get less smoke if the oil level is below the centre of the two marks on the dip stick, and this car uses about a pint every 1500 miles but I don't drive it hard.
As to why yours has just started smoking maybe your valve seals are just going hard with age and starting to let oil past?

hope this helps Jon.

 

[mikeacollins]

Thanks for that Jon, it gives me a bit more comfort. The car is great, I just like things to be perfect.....

 

[Jonathan Collins]

I have just notced you use Mobil 1, I have read that it may not be such a good idea to use this on older engines as it tends to find its way past seals etc, but to stick with a mineral based 15-40 grade oil that would have been available when the cars were manufactured.I think I would only use Mobil 1 if the engine had just had a total rebuild. Has it always had Mobil 1 in the engine?
Jon.

 

[mikeacollins]

The honest answer is I don't know, it may say in the service history and I will check it out. Over the past 10 years it has generally been serviced by 9-eleven mobile Porsche service agent, I guess I could ask him. It was the last owner who said it had Mobil 1 in it..... Needs an oil change in about 3,000 miles (6 months for me!)

Happy to receive more feedback..

Cheers

Mike

 

[JCB..]

Mike

All flat 4 VW's do exactly the same and the current Porsche engines are no exception.

JCB..

 

[mikeacollins]

Thank you all very much for your replies.

Now that I have got into 911's and this is one of the few purchases I have ever made and been really chuffed 6 months later... Does anyone know where there is a good 911 964 turbo II (3.6 version) Preferably not one in white!

Thanks

Bye[]

 

[Guest]

Mike,
As covered before, use a higher viscous oil, use Mobil 15/50, anything less is just like water in an oil cooled mtr.
Another phenonomen that can/does occur is the line-up of piston ring gap. Each ring (3) on each piston has a slight gap, and this gap should never be inline (all three). What can happen though, is the gap on one piston can end-up on the bottom of the piston (closest to the road), and this can allow oil to seep through. [:'(]
More likely to do with your oil viscousity- Porsche will tell you nothing below 10 wieght, but better 15+.