Smoke bomb

[alm001]

I made a lot of clouds yesterday at 1hr20 out of a 1hr30 trip to Rhode Island.

Turned it off an costed to the side of the road. AAA sent it to my friend's house where he has a lift. I'm going to go there tonight and have a look.

I'm suspecting AOS. I really hope its nothing more.

How was everyone else's weekend?

[itsnotanova]

I suspect you're right. Lets hope that's it because that's the easy fix. I bought a car at auction once that had that as the problem. Guessing the dealer tried dumping it off at the auction thinking the motor had blown. It was my first time working on a boxster and it only took me ten minutes to fix.

[grc0456]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I suspect you're right. Lets hope that's it because that's the easy fix. I bought a car at auction once that had that as the problem. Guessing the dealer tried dumping it off at the auction thinking the motor had blown. It was my first time working on a boxster and it only took me ten minutes to fix.

That translates into 100 minutes for me to fix. I'm DIY challenged. Please don't judge.

Seriously, hope it is only AOS.



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[jb92563]

Been there as well. The smoke was so thick that I could not see cars behind me and at a light I smoked out a whole block. Cars around me had to turn their headlights on as I drove it a 1000' to my house.
I estimate it burned 1.5 quarts of oil in those couple minutes.

It was so ridiculous I started to laugh once I recognized that it was just the AOS.

I thought that would be a nice feature to have on a switch though to rid yourself of tailgaters.

I think I paid around $130 a couple years ago for a new AOS from Pelican.
It came with a new bellows and clamps.

Its not a difficult fix, but a bit hard to get at.

I found it easiest with the rear jacked up, the passenger rear tire removed and the top in service position.

Pay careful attention to securing the rubber bellows properly as it would be easy to introduce an air leak there that would cause all manner of frustrations.

I wonder what it is that actually fails in the AOS.
My experience has been that its typically a $1 piece that fails in most mechanical things.
I still have the old one and plan to cut it open an see what goes on inside, and what fails.

[alm001]

On top of the smoke screen, I think the motor got locked with a bunch of oil. I gave it half a crank and it didn't turn. So I pulled the key, and waited for the flatbed.

My plan for tonight is to pull all the spark plugs out, and see what that gets me.
I should have time to get the hardtop off, and into service position.

[BoxsterLS376]

Originally Posted by alm001

On top of the smoke screen, I think the motor got locked with a bunch of oil. I gave it half a crank and it didn't turn. So I pulled the key, and waited for the flatbed.

I'm sorry but I just have to laugh at this. Did you drive a car for over an hour smoking that badly? Or it just started with 10 minutes left? Sounds like you could have locked up the motor because an AOS won't cause that... Perhaps you've cracked the heads too and filled them cylinder with water.

Fun fun.

[alm001]

Originally Posted by BoxsterLS376

I'm sorry but I just have to laugh at this. Did you drive a car for over an hour smoking that badly? Or it just started with 10 minutes left? Sounds like you could have locked up the motor because an AOS won't cause that... Perhaps you've cracked the heads too and filled them cylinder with water.

Fun fun.

No no no no. 10 minutes left in my trip and I see a cloud developing behind me.
I cut the engine right away, and coasted to the side.
Let the car sit for a couple min while I stepped outside to make sure I wasn't losing oil.
Got back in, checked oil level on the dash. - Plenty remaining. Tried turning it once, nothing, flatbed.

[Chuck W.]

Originally Posted by alm001

I cut the engine right away, and coasted to the side.

Very smart. I am not a mechanic, but everything I have read this is the hot ticket to avoid any further damage.

[GaryMulcahey]

Is the replacement AOS better designed or is it in line to fail again down the road? Should one replace the AOS for preventative measures?

Thx

G

[CrisZenithBlue]

Originally Posted by GaryMulcahey

Is the replacement AOS better designed or is it in line to fail again down the road? Should one replace the AOS for preventative measures?

Thx

G

i dont think they are "new and improved"

they are said to last around 60k miles and i believe that.
when i bought the car with 111k miles the previous owner had replaced the AOS once. at around 120k miles i replaced it again.

AOS and crappy water pump seem to be "consumables" in these cars.

replace water pump every 50-60k as preventive maintenance (you dont want that failing on you) and dont replace the AOS until it fails, it will give you time to replace it before it does any real damage.

people try to get the most out of each AOS but keep one ready for when the time comes.. because it will come

[GaryMulcahey]

Thanks Cris. Good advice. I will order a new water pump and AOS in the spring.

G

[alm001]

It took about 45 minutes, but we pushed the car onto the lift last night. We needed to jack the rear up to put it on blocks so that it would roll over the center plate of the lift, then we needed to jack each individual corner to put blocks under each wheel, so the lift arms could get under the car. This is MUCH easier when I can just drive the car onto blocks.

I did a quick look under the car, there is oil dripping from the air filter housing.
-Looking under the car, there is a hole in the bottom of the air box, can anyone else confirm that this is open to atmosphere? It looks like I can see the clean side of the filter.

The heads/ gaskets / mating areas look good, block and heads are dry.

Tonight or Thursday I'm going to pull the plugs out and inspect, and also pull the intake tubing and throttle body.

[alm001]

From the dipstick the oil looks clean. The coolant looks clean as well.

[alm001]

And since we all love pictures:

[thstone]

Originally Posted by alm001

... there is oil dripping from the air filter housing.
-Looking under the car, there is a hole in the bottom of the air box, can anyone else confirm that this is open to atmosphere? It looks like I can see the clean side of the filter. The heads/ gaskets / mating areas look good, block and heads are dry.

If the engine is indeed hydrolocked with oil, it would be expected to have oil back up into the air box and have it coming out of the bottom drain. The good news is that the block and heads are externally dry!

[alm001]

Looked at pics and I'm missing the elbow shown here with two screws in it.



Anyone have an idea on PN? I wonder how much dust I've sucked in.

[alm001]

Found it

Lid - 996 110 297 01
Water drain tube - 996 110 297 00
Washer - 996 110 295 00

[Gelbster]

The part that usually fails is the diaphragm inside. We've had several discussions about upgrading to a better diaphragm material.
If you look at some of the photos of a dissected AOS ,you'll see where the diaphragm is located and the mode of failure.
My idea was to use a new Viton diaphragm. It can be made from Viton sheet .The problem is the adhesive. Viton is a peculiar material and the only adhesive I can find is :3M 5200 polyurethane sealant. The seal would need a mechanical clamping method also?
A contributor on another Forum says he uses an upgraded seal from BMW -but gives no specifics.
I just need a failed AOS to do some trial surgery on.

[alm001]

Originally Posted by Gelbster

I just need a failed AOS to do some trial surgery on.

I'll send you mine once I'm done with my replacement. Remind me if I forget.

[kk2002s]

Originally Posted by CrisZenithBlue

i dont think they are "new and improved"

they are said to last around 60k miles and i believe that.
when i bought the car with 111k miles the previous owner had replaced the AOS once. at around 120k miles i replaced it again.

AOS and crappy water pump seem to be "consumables" in these cars.

replace water pump every 50-60k as preventive maintenance (you dont want that failing on you) and dont replace the AOS until it fails, it will give you time to replace it before it does any real damage.

people try to get the most out of each AOS but keep one ready for when the time comes.. because it will come

The only thing that seems to be constant with these cars is how inconstant the life of their parts are.
I bought a spare AOS to take with me last year on a 2500 mile road trip.
I took it with me on (2) 2000 mile road trips this year. I'm at 85000+ miles but I think this winter I'm finally actually going to take my spare and replace the original and keep the original as my spare
I just hope the replacement performs as long as the original. I have read here that sometime these replacement don't last very long

Good luck