Oil burning smell, coughed smoke on startup...

[Morelli]

This is odd. Once in a while, I can smell a faint odor of burning oil...With the engine directly behind me, it doesn't strike me as too unusual.

Then today when I left for lunch, I turned the car on, and she coughed out a good amount of grey smoke. Definitely burnt oil. Is there anything in these cars that would make this happen intermittently? I checked the oil level and it was fine. I sat with the engine revved at 3500rpm, and it was fine. It was also fine on the way home from lunch. It just coughed pretty hard when I first kicked her over.

I got the car in November, don't know the service history. I am taking it in this week or next for a complete tune up (58k miles)...but has anyone had this happen?

[Brucelee]

I had this happen once to me. I had the dealer check it out and they found nothing. Never happened again.

Go figure, darn gremlins!

[YellowJacket]

Actually, according to a couple sources, this is normal for the boxster because of the design of the engine. Without going into much detail (because I might get part of it wrong) there is a tiny layer of oil that ends up burning off every time you start the car. I notice it 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 starts, but supposedly, it always happens -- it's just a matter of whether it is noticeable or not.

[Morelli]

I'd imagine so. Granted, every engine is going to burn oil, regardless...but I do get a pronounced smell sometimes...and that REALLY caught me off guard when it kicked out that fat poof of smoke. Oh well though, I'm going to get a tune up soon, and I'll have my mechanic give it all a once over.

[IceBox]

This usually happens when the car sits for awhile but can occur whenever you start it. When I went to buy my (used) Boxster, I almost walked away when a large cloud of smoke errupted from the back-end. I don't know which is funnier, my brother and I letting out a startled 'Whoaaa-aaaoooo' in unison or the panicked look on the salesman's face when he thought we were walking. He explained why this happens, but as I was satisfied with his explanation, and further research confirmed what he said, the particulars escape my memory. Suffice to say, no need to worry. Damp cold temps can also cause this...I don't know why.

[Brucelee]

When any of my Boxsters sits for a while, I will ALWAYS get a puff of smoke when backing it out of my garage. The cough thing has only happened once however.