White smoke from passenger side vent - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

flat6pilot · 07-17-2015, 06:52 PM

Just as I was pulling into my driveway, I heard a rough grinding or gurgling type sound coming from the motor area and white smoke on the passenger side.

Immediately shut the engine off, and white smoke was steaming out of the right exterior vent. Oddly it didn't have that sweet coolant smell, just a faint burning, and caused condensation on the rear fender.

No warning lights and no visible leaks. Coincidentally thought I had heard an electric motor type sound running out of place from the right rear when I first set off on the drive. Otherwise just had my AC recharged, but that's the only recent work.

My initial guess is water pump, it's original, but am nervous about restarting the car (dealer is 1 mile away). I'm not sure how to proceed, any ideas?

Car is a 1999 2.5 with 98k.

Viper10000 · 07-17-2015, 07:39 PM

Did it have an oil burning smell or an electrical burning smell? Wondering if maybe a fan motor shorted out? (I'm just taking a wild guess). No signs of anything out of place in the engine compartment? If dealer is only a mile away, may not be a bad idea to have it towed there. Should be cheap to tow that short distance.

flat6pilot · 07-17-2015, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viper10000

Did it have an oil burning smell or an electrical burning smell? Wondering if maybe a fan motor shorted out? (I'm just taking a wild guess). No signs of anything out of place in the engine compartment? If dealer is only a mile away, may not be a bad idea to have it towed there. Should be cheap to tow that short distance.

Electrical burning only! Looked the car over and could not find any leaks or other indications of trouble.

BoxsterSteve · 07-17-2015, 07:57 PM

Could be the engine compartment fan or the SAI pump that popped on you. Hopefully that's all it is.
Best of luck.

epapp · 07-18-2015, 01:53 PM

If it caused condensation on the fender then it was steam and not smoke. I would check the water pump/main coolant tube connections.

Those being fine, more suspect would be the expansion tank connections on the inside of the engine bay. You could have a split that only leaks when the system is under pressure.