Smoke when cranking.

[Electricguru]

When I crank my car, a big puff of white smoke leaves the exhaust. I have a 76 911 with an 87 3.2 engine. Also, the engine seems to be running rich. Any simple adjustments to be done for the richness? Is the smoke a serious issue?

[Electricguru]

??

[911]

Does it continue to smoke when you drive? If so, then that could be a sign of worn valve guides. Otherwise, smoke at the start up is fairly normal.

[Electricguru]

How bout the car running rich?

[BReyes]

I would say its probably not running rich. It is computer controlled. And there are adjustments that can be performed by qualified technician.

The smoke is relative to valve guide wear and engine design generally.

When is last ime it was serviced?

Regards,

[johnnyo]

Be careful when running overly rich usually indicativeof white smoke, (greyish blue smoke would probably indicate oil ) it has been said that when first starteed the car should bev driven and not left to idle to achieve operating temps sooner also diminishing piston wash down where fuel will seep past rings into crankcase, get to a shop with a CO tester and have your idle and mixture adjusted and poss. change 02 sensor for good measure, I just bought a A/F guage just so I can feel comfortable with my mixture and should be one of the important gauges other than oil pressure to have, How long does the car smoke for just on initial start up? if so I would lean toward valve guides or sometimes depending on hew the ring gaps line up when car is shut off can seep a little oil past and will be seen as a puff at start up but diminishes after 3-5 seconds, does your exhaust smell rich? Just to add, my car will not puff smoke for 3-5 days in a row even when laid up for more than a week and on occasion I will get the puff of more whiteish ting of blue smoke on occasion, again this is probable due to where the ring gap happens to fall if towards the bottom it has a tendancy to weep oil past the gap,

[Electricguru]

My car just puts out a big puff of white smoke on initial start up. The car exhaust smells rich a few minutes there after, but no smoke. Ive have became pretty good mechanically with this car, is repairing the valve guides an easy task??

[johnnyo]

Don't jump too quickly to fix something that may be acceptable traits of a 3.2L most will tell you that a puff on startup is normal and acceptable, a better indication of engine health is actual oil consumption 1 Qt every 700 or more miles is considered acceptable and normal below 600 miles further diagnostics is necessary, dependant on miles on engine as to weather a top end or full rebuild is required, 3.2L have a rather robust bottom ends but as many say while your there, again first test for running rich and if so adjust mixture/idle and change out 02 sensor