Blowing LOTS of smoke

[jb92563]

To save money let someone who knows how to test the AOS and other diagnostics take a look first.

Even us DIY mechanics know the symptoms of a malfunctioning AOS and some ways to test it that an indie can do for a couple hundred at most.

When I removed my blown AOS it did not leak any oil.
The throttle body did have some oil residue but not much.

A broken head gasket will cause oil and water to mix and will look like a milkshake on your oil dipstick. If oil got into the cooling system then you would see oil in the coolant and also know something internal to the engine failed.

A compression test will tell you if your piston rings are OK, which is another possible way to blow lots of smoke.

A good mechanic could do all those tests in a couple hours and not even have to open the engine to narrow the possible causes.

So what we are telling you is you have the wrong mechanic who is most interested in your wallet and seeing how much he can extract from it rather than narrowing down the possibilities and investigating the cheaper modes of failure first.

JFP is a mechanic and one of the wisest/experienced contributors here so pay attention to his advice.

[stelan]

Originally Posted by jb92563

To save money let someone who knows how to test the AOS and other diagnostics take a look first.

Even us DIY mechanics know the symptoms of a malfunctioning AOS and some ways to test it that an indie can do for a couple hundred at most.

When I removed my blown AOS it did not leak any oil.
The throttle body did have some oil residue but not much.

A broken head gasket will cause oil and water to mix and will look like a milkshake on your oil dipstick. If oil got into the cooling system then you would see oil in the coolant and also know something internal to the engine failed.

A compression test will tell you if your piston rings are OK, which is another possible way to blow lots of smoke.

A good mechanic could do all those tests in a couple hours and not even have to open the engine to narrow the possible causes.

So what we are telling you is you have the wrong mechanic who is most interested in your wallet and seeing how much he can extract from it rather than narrowing down the possibilities and investigating the cheaper modes of failure first.

JFP is a mechanic and one of the wisest/experienced contributors here so pay attention to his advice.

+1 on JFP advise (he shares his valuable experience for free here)

[grandmasterwayn]

I know you guys are helping me and I appreciate it a lot. I'm pretty new to the whole porsche game and I really don't know engine stuff. I'll call him back today and ask if he did those tests you guys mentioned. Again, thanks for your advice!

[jb92563]

All we ask in return is that you update the status of your issues, good or bad as we all learn from the feedback.

Thanks and good luck!

[grandmasterwayn]

So I spoke to the mechanic again and asked the questions you said. He said the engine has low compression and he thinks it's either the head gasket or the piston rings. He also said that it would be about 24 hours of labor to get to those parts to see them. I have some service contract which would cover the rings or the pistons but they wouldn't cover the gasket.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by grandmasterwayn

So I spoke to the mechanic again and asked the questions you said. He said the engine has low compression and he thinks it's either the head gasket or the piston rings. He also said that it would be about 24 hours of labor to get to those parts to see them. I have some service contract which would cover the rings or the pistons but they wouldn't cover the gasket.

What compression pressures did he see? He should have given you a table with pressure by cylinder.

[Gelbster]

JFP is too modest to say so but you are unlikely to ever read a Post about the M96 than from anyone more qualified than him.
BTW see Post 6 above. You still haven't asked for a referral to a competent M96 mechanic in Vegas , so I give up - horse to water......
There are good M96 mechanics who need our business and support. Why use a general mechanic(& he may be brilliant) on an engine as peculiar as the M96 and expect a good result?