Yet another smoke on start-up thread
 

85 Targa
90k miles

Ive been noticing a bad smell on start-up, accompanied by a waft of smoke. The smell is acrid and lingers. Its not fuel and its not rotten eggs. So presumably its oil. The smoke does not last long, and only happens when the car has sat for, say 12 hours or so.

I know I have an oil leak and I have ordered the parts to resolve problems around the triangle of death.

I have not had the car for long, and I dont remember it when it first arrived. Perhaps that was the excitment of having a Porsche on the driveway.

Ive read through many smoke on start up threads but cant really find one that matches up.

Is this all related to the TOD issue or am I looking at worn valves of some sort and possible top end overhaul? If it was oil dripping onto the exhaust (which it does) then I dont think it would be an imediate smell, only after it had warmed up.

Many thanks for your input.

Cheers
Ed.

If its oil, then there must be oil seeping into the cylinders. Take your pick how the oil gets there. If its not oil, then who knows. Mine spits out some smoke if I park it on a steep left leaning incline.

Is this smell coming from the exhaust or is it just around the car in general or inside the car?

Its coming from the exhaust. Acrid and lingers badly. Wife loves it. (not).

Only does it after sitting around a while. Deffo not mist or vapour, deffo not a fuel smell.

If it is white smoke I'd guess it's mostly water vapor with a little unburnt fuel mixed in for flavour.
Mine doesn't smell too much though.
Burnt oil has a distinct odor.
Catalytic converter in good shape?

Its definitely not water vapour. The smell is too pungeant and the smoke dwells for quite a while. I would say its burnt oil, but Im not sure why oil is getting into the cylinder heads.

The catalytic converter was removed. To get it through local import checks i had to re-install one from an 86 model. It has the oxygen sensor but I dont think my 85 car has anywhere to plug that in?

Would oil on the heat exchangers warm up that quickly that it would smell on start up?

Cheers
Ed.

Probably not, it takes a little while for the tiny bit mine has on it to smell. Definitely not there at start up. Have you changed fuel suppliers lately?
Changed oil viscosity at all?
If you haven't changed anything you can control, and this is a new problem then perhaps a leak down test is in order. (After a good "italian tune up")

I bought the car from a 'reputable' dealer in the UK and shipped it to Australia. I wouldnt know what fuel they used in it, nor the oil viscosity. I am currently using Castrol GTX 20w-50 which I believe to be correct?

Many thanks for everyones input so far. Would like to get to the bottom of this.

Cheers
Ed.

Have you taken it out for a long hard drive with high sustained rpm's?
Maybe it is carboned up and needs to "clear it's throat".
A little carbon stuck to a valve will allow oil to seep past.
I've been driving mine after re-assembly with it rarely dropping below 3000 rpm's and hitting 6000 and a little higher on occasion. :)
These cars don't respond well to low rpm cruising.

Timmy, "Italian Tune Up" is due for this weekend. Im hoping it is exaclty what you are describing. Ive only just registered the car and taken the kids on joy rides to the beach and back.

Cheers
Ed.

I took my 16 yr old for a "tuning" ride last weekend.
The look on his face after getting into it in 2nd gear and then 3rd at 3500 to 6200 rpm's while going around an uphill sweeping curve was priceless.
He told his mom he just went with me because he was bored, couldn't stop talking about it all night! :)

Im pretty sure this is resolved. I am parking my car on a level surface and it is now no longer smoking on start up. I also let it tick over before shut down.

I can stop reading engine rebuild threads.

:0)

Might want to make sure the cat you installed wasn't gutted at some time. Parking level may help the smoke issue but not sure how that would help the smelly exhaust. I have a euro premuffler (kind of looks like a cat to someone not familiar with them) and the car smells. Wife hates it too.

All these cars have a particular smell to them that sticks to your clothes, nature of the beast. As far as smoking on start all the cars will do that too. It shouldn't be excessive. If it's excessive then check your oil level hot while running, the level should be near or just above the bottom line. These cars will smoke on starting even after a rebuild, sometimes the longer they sit the more smoke you'll see.