Smoke. Should I be worried ?

[livi]

Carrera ´85. Euro. 87k. Engine never opened. Pulls like a train.

Mobil 1. 0w40. Only needs 1L / 3000 miles. Perfect oil level (mid mark). Good mileage.

I know a lot of our cars produce a short puff of smoke on upstart.

But. Mine produce rather much - white - smoke on upstart when cold. Tend to go on for at least 5 minutes. No smoke after that and no reported smoke on accell or decell when at op. temp.

I know, most of the signs on this patients Bill of Health sounds good. Just seems mine has a longer smoke window than most reports on upstart.

Anal ? Moi ??

Any input appreciated !!

[rfuerst911sc]

If it were me I would switch to a heavier oil then the 0W and see if you get the same results. 0W is very thin plus being synthetic it may be getting past the valve guides until the motor warms up, everything else from your description sounds normal.

[stlrj]

If it's any consolation, that puff is a sure sign of positive lubrication on startup, a critical time when most engine wear occurs.

Keep the 0W as insurance and peace of mind.

5W30 dino oil works for me and mine's an 86 3.2.

Cheers,

Joe

[aj88cab]

Try letting the engine idle a few seconds until the oil level guage stablizes before you shut it off. This allows the oil to pump back into the tank. This has all but eliminated startup smoke on my (120k mi) Carrera.

Good Luck
Andrew

[Glasgow 911SC]

I use 0-40 Mobil1 too. It's good stuff in cold climates. White 'smoke' is more likely steam (condensation) burning off, no?

[Steve87-911]

Originally posted by Glasgow 911SC
...White 'smoke' is more likely steam (condensation) burning off, no?

True.
White is water condensation steaming off.
Black is too rich fuel mixture.
Blue/grey is oil.

[livi]

Thanks, guys

Good input - albeit a tad contradicting..

Andrew,

Thats the funny thing. I always stay put a couple of minutes for the oil the circulate and engine settle down - AND as long as I stay put the smoking continues - but as soon as I start driving the smoke vanish.