Blue smoke on start up

[blue2000s]

Blue smoke=burned oil

If it's a puff at start up, most likely, you only ran the car for a very short time the last time it was started.

If it's more than just a puff, the next most common culprit is the AOS. You can check this by unscrewing your oil cap while the car is running. If it's really hard to get off, there's more vacuum in the crank case than there should be and the AOS needs replacement.

[tonycarreon]

there's a difference between "more than a puff" and an AOS failure. blue is certainly right - it's burning off oil. but is that because there was oil left over from the last run or the AOS is failing?

if it looks like something that you'd see from a james bond car, then certainly i'd suspect an AOS failure.

just "resetting" the CEL does not fix the problem it was having. do the oil cap test, that's a good way to check.

[Highlow]

I had this issue a few days ago. The car would smoke for about 5 seconds every time I started it. The longer it sat without being started, then more smoke came out.

I did the oil cap test and determined it was the AOS.

I replaced the AOS yesterday. It wasn't fun but it feels good to have done it myself. Plus, I probably saved myself $400 if not more.

[Beelzy]

This is the car's way of telling you to drive it faster and harder.

MY 04 does the Puff the Magic Dragon bit after my wife putts around town doing the
errand trips. It does no such thing after my "spirited" driving. If it does so after said
driving, then I would suspect a soon to be failing AOS.

Happy Boxstering!

[fullthrottle52]

Thanks for all the comments.

I did run the car for only a about 10 seconds (pulled it in the garage after pushing it back).

Hopefully that is all it is. I will keep an eye on things and if the AOS needs to be done then so be it.

I'll keep all informed.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by fullthrottle52

I did run the car for only a about 10 seconds (pulled it in the garage after pushing it back).

From what I can tell from my own experience and what I've gathered from other comments, this almost always is the source of the infamous puff at start-up.

[shlim8]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

From what I can tell from my own experience and what I've gathered from other comments, this almost always is the source of the infamous puff at start-up.

Mine's exactly the same... the car must be started up from cold, ran for just a short while (moving out of driveway to wash car). If it sits there at least overnight (even if combined with another short drive back up the driveway)... the next start will be a smokey one.

I'd replaced my 10 yr old aos as part of preventive mantenance and it makes no difference to the abovementioned "recipe" for a smokey start.

After every long drive, the car starts up from cold without the smokey start....

My car is totally predictable when it comes to smokey cold starts. The amount of smoke is quite alarming (and embarrassing...) - one large puff, enough to fill my driveway with blue smoke. My neighbours have long stopped running over to warn me about the smoke... ha ha..