White smoke on hard acceleration - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

rak44 · 05-25-2008, 05:27 PM

I have a 01 "S" , upon hard acceleration, usually in second gear over 6000 rpm I get a huge cloud of white smoke from my exhaust. No warning lights or engine running hot. I can continue driving without any additional smoke. 2 months ago I had my Air/oil separator replaced, so by now any oil residue should have been burned off. I have no smoke on start up, the engine runs very smooth without any strange noises. Also motor is not running hot. It seems very strange, any advise ?

renzop · 05-26-2008, 04:17 AM

White smoke usually means coolant. Have you checked the coolant level recently?

It is weird that it only happens under acceleration though. It leads me to believe that it might not be exhaust but tire rub. Do you have unusual size tires or non-stock wheels? Maybe under hard acceleration the rear end dips down and something is rubbing.

Good luck,
Alan

TEX · 07-21-2009, 05:05 PM

I have the same issue ,especially when going up a freeway ramp in 2nd gear,
It seems to ONLY do that when OIL level is about half way or more on the MY2000 Boxster S .
Have been back to the dealer and they say it didn't happen to them when on a test.
It only seems to happen when I have taken it for a short drive 10 kms or so and then accelerate hard up a ramp.

Could it nbe my Oil level guage is faulty ? Although the dip stick indicator also shows about the same amount on testing it.

timothy · 07-21-2009, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEX

I have the same issue ,especially when going up a freeway ramp in 2nd gear,
It seems to ONLY do that when OIL level is about half way or more on the MY2000 Boxster S .
Have been back to the dealer and they say it didn't happen to them when on a test.
It only seems to happen when I have taken it for a short drive 10 kms or so and then accelerate hard up a ramp.

Is this also in the 6000+ RPM range, and are you accelerating through a turn or is it a straight ramp?

TEX · 07-21-2009, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timothy

Is this also in the 6000+ RPM range, and are you accelerating through a turn or is it a straight ramp?

YES ,its about that rev range, also only up a ramp.

timothy · 07-21-2009, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEX

YES ,its about that rev range, also only up a ramp.

Since the car is going straight I don't have an answer for you. Perhaps someone else will have a suggestion.

07-21-2009, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEX

YES ,its about that rev range, also only up a ramp.

this may not give you a 100% answer, but drain your oil, and watch it as it comes out. Coolant (when it mixes with oil) will look white - almost toothpaste like.

Check you coolant, and the top of your coolant res tank for oil.

best of luck

Adam · 07-22-2009, 07:32 AM

What do the coolant and oil levels look like?

TEX · 07-22-2009, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred Demara

this may not give you a 100% answer, but drain your oil, and watch it as it comes out. Coolant (when it mixes with oil) will look white - almost toothpaste like.

Check you coolant, and the top of your coolant res tank for oil.

best of luck

Coolant is fine ,NO sign of any oil there!!

Only thing I can think of is that my oil level guages are wrong (both the dipstick and the electronic read out) ??

The Dealer keeps saying that they can't find anything wrong!

J2da · 07-23-2009, 08:09 AM

Im also having the same exact problem here, and have replaced the air/oil sperator also. I cant seem to pinpoint the issue, could be piston rings or head gasket though. Hoping that isn't the issue but does anyone know where to start looking?

TEX · 07-24-2009, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J2da

Im also having the same exact problem here, and have replaced the air/oil sperator also. I cant seem to pinpoint the issue, could be piston rings or head gasket though. Hoping that isn't the issue but does anyone know where to start looking?

Finally after taking my car back to the dealer regarding the white smoke on accelleration ,which they said was due to quote "found to happen when driving with high transversal acceleration and high revs, solution is a Motor Sport oil seperator available to these conditions" ???

But as luck have it when I was about to pull out of there car park service area, I started the car and a HUGE PUFF of White smoke appeared that almost covered the carpark area!!
Lucky the head mechanic was there , he immediatly said it was a AOL seperator on the way out.
As I tried to tell them all along!!
Its booked in next week to replace the AOL ,so here is hopeing that this problem will finally be fixed.

Will give you update ASAP
Cheers all

timothy · 07-24-2009, 06:36 PM

Hope a new AOS does the trick .... The motorsport oil separator is what I was originally getting at when asking about direction of travel, but once you said straight that eliminated the idea. Our cars can puff smoke at the track when accelerating at high rpm out of a hard left turn. The motorsport separator solves this and I had one installed last year. I'm surprised at the original recommendation as it would take some really aggressive driving outside of a track environment ... plus you were going straight.

cas951 · 07-24-2009, 10:12 PM

Keep in mind one of the main causes of AOS failures is overfilling the oil.

Lil bastard · 07-24-2009, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J2da

Im also having the same exact problem here, and have replaced the air/oil sperator also. I cant seem to pinpoint the issue, could be piston rings or head gasket though. Hoping that isn't the issue but does anyone know where to start looking?

Do a compression and a leakdown test. This will tell you if these are your issues.

Lil bastard · 07-24-2009, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J2da

Im also having the same exact problem here, and have replaced the air/oil sperator also. I cant seem to pinpoint the issue, could be piston rings or head gasket though. Hoping that isn't the issue but does anyone know where to start looking?

Do a compression and a leakdown test. These will tell you if those are your issues.

TEX · 08-02-2009, 04:20 AM

Hi All,
Well finally after getting the AOS replaced under warranty (it was a used car bought from a Reliable Porsche Dealer)\

The smoke problem is FIXED!!
NO more white smoke on startup, even if the car has not been driven for several days, ALSO the acceleration up a Ramp has been fixed, no more embarresing clouds of white smoke screen to be seen!!

Thanks all for your advice.

redhead · 07-13-2013, 01:04 AM

Hi!

Same thing happened to me with my 2001 BoxsterS. Hard acceleration, 6000+ rpm. Massive explosion of smoke! Spectacular display. However, my engine warning light flashed for about a minute or so. This was in a straight line, and no incline. Same display as a blown head gasket (I would think). That was 2 days ago. She is no longer smoking though. Could it have been some "dirt in the system, as this happened straight after an oil change?

fatmike · 07-13-2013, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redhead

However, my engine warning light flashed for about a minute or so.

Redhead - not the same. Flashing engine warning is very very bad. Don't run the car and take it in to a qualified mechanic for a look.

/

thom4782 · 07-13-2013, 07:36 AM

Redhead:

Flashing engine light signals a potentially catastrophic engine problem. Suggest you do not start engine and tow the car to qualified shop for diagnosis.

reiver · 08-01-2013, 07:40 AM

I got this this morning in a hard right (almost 90 degree turn) at high RPMs when hitting the apex at full throttle and for about 1/4 mile past. Scared the crap out of me. I just checked the oil last night. I'm a bit worried now. I didn't see any engine lights on the dash....