Exhaust Smoke on Start Up - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

richv · 07-19-2008, 09:23 PM

My 2004 Boxster shows exhaust smoke on startup. This has been happening more frequently as in daily lately. Anyone else have this problem?

fragdude · 07-19-2008, 09:30 PM

Could be the Air Oil Separator.
more info about it here:
http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/problemareas
Number 3

What kind of "problem" you have depends on a bunch of factors, such as the amount of smoke, color, and how often it happens. It could also be oil going around the valves or leaking past cylinder rings. To properly diagnose it you would have to give more details.

I've heard that many cars give out a puff of smoke every 20-30 starts and that this is considered normal. So who knows, maybe you don't have a problem at all. Although there are people on the forum that know more about this than I do. So lets hope they chime in!

richv · 07-19-2008, 09:37 PM

Thanks, I appreciate the info.

richv · 07-19-2008, 09:40 PM

Thanks. Its a fairly large cloud of smoke and it seems to be happening more frequently as in maybe one in five or ten starts. I'll have it checked out before my warranty expires!

eiblanco · 07-20-2008, 07:39 AM

I had the same thing happen on my car and it was the air oil separator. With the car running, try to remove the oil cap. If it is very difficult because of a large amount of suction, then there is an air leak, and one of the most common culprits is the AOS. There are many descriptions of DIY replacement on the web. I did it for about 200 dollars, including purchase of the parts and tools.

Rick V · 07-20-2008, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eiblanco

I had the same thing happen on my car and it was the air oil separator. With the car running, try to remove the oil cap. If it is very difficult because of a large amount of suction, then there is an air leak, and one of the most common culprits is the AOS. There are many descriptions of DIY replacement on the web. I did it for about 200 dollars, including purchase of the parts and tools.

I was thinking the same thing. That is where I would check first. I am also going to choke back the urge to ask, "isn't there supposed to be exhaust when the car is running.

PSL-Boxster · 07-20-2008, 05:40 PM

- ive had this problem before and i figured that it was just because of the H6 pattern of the cylinders, oil would occasionally leak down into the combustion chamber and be burned off in startup..could also be the air/oil separator but i wouldn't worry much about it.. with me it went away after about 10 or so startups

socratic · 07-25-2008, 08:54 PM

If it is the AOS, get it fixed right away if underwarranty. A friend's AOS went while he was driving. It stranded him. Very costly to fix out of warranty (approx $1000).