How much smoke from sleeping 911

[heritage2008]

Purchased garage find 1977 with 95,000 miles. Car just had tune-up and another $5,000 worth of work before going to sleep 5 years ago(93,500 on od).

I changed the oi/filter---repair order says it had less than 1500 miles on 15-40 syn. but wanted to start clean.
There was way too much oil in the car and I believe this may is why the previous owner quit driving it---backyard mechanic son didn't check oil properly--and she started leaking oil in the garage.

I put in 9 quarts of VR-1 20/50 and new filter. Cleaned the air cleaner box and mesh filter from oil tank to box---really gunked up.

Gas tank was replaced less than 2,000 miles ago--looks clean and gas must have had stabilizer in it--only maybe 2 gallons--smelled ok-- in it so drained it and in with fresh3 gallons 93 octane plus techron.

New battery in and fired it up. Choke choke smoke smoke. Fired hitting on 4-5 and then caught. Let it idle for about 30 seconds and WOW--the amount of smoke filled the 3 car garage--shut it down.

Was expecting some but not this much. IS THIS COMMON since it was overfilled with oil? I intend to fire it up tomorrow and let it work it out but worried of a fire or running out the neighbors. There was some oil in air cleaner lying in the back and cleaned that up--maybe a teaspoon or less.

Would appreciate some ideas--should I clean engine or heat exchangers first?

Has Carrera covers and no reactors.

[Dantilla]

Very common. A friend ran a similar engine at night for quite a while so the smoke would not attract attention.

Eventually it goes away.

[Aurel]

I concur. Even my car that did not run for about 2 months smoked a lot for several minutes, to the point I thought I had overfilled the oil. Now, the smoke is gone, just a little puff of blue at startup.
I also think the absence of catalyst makes matters worse.

[Dave Colangelo]

I was using my 78SC as my DD for some time with out any smoke. Due to life and college getting in the way the car sees far less use that it did a year ago I now only drive it every few months. It always smokes a lot on start up then clears up. Smokes a bit on the second start up then if Im driving it for any longer all the smoke clears up. I have always read this to be common for the 911's. My guess is that the oil level in the tank sits higher than the cylinders, so simple gravity fills the valve seats, cylinders, etc. up with oil while the car sits. Unlike in most cars where the oil sits in the pan below the engine and drips there while the car sits. I am not 100% sure if that is the reason but is seems like a good guess.

Regards
Dave

[Alan L]

Pretty good guess Dave. But also the valve covers hold oil, to seep past the valves etc. If it has been overfilled this will make things worse - oil circulates all thru the breather system as well - only to get sucked back down the intake.
It is possible the exhaust system is coated in oil partially burnt. It may take a while to get enough heat in the system to clear all this out, but warm running is the basic answer.
Alan

[Alan Cottrill]

When I've brought cars back into service I've always started them back up with 30w non-detergent and ran them hard for about 30 miles with lots of acceleration and downshifting and compression braking. Then change the oil to whatever you're going to run. Smoke has always cleared up by the end of the drive. YMMV and other disclaimers apply.

[heritage2008]

So is 9 quarts a good starting point at cold engine change? I changed the oil when the car was cold because I knew it was too full of oil. Going to fire it back up tonight and see if I can kill me some skeeters.

Would it be better to spray the entire engine with "Gunk" and let it run into a cement mixing plastic tub--over and over--especially on heat exchangers--let dry overnight-then try again. Start at top and work downward.

I do not want a fire and would like to keep neighborhood fogging to a minimum

[ShakinJoe]

Roll it outside and let it run. Have extinguisher handy but verify where smoke is coming from. It may have serious ring problems but that will not cause a fire. Look for fuel leaks on dry rotted hoses.

[Driver_X]

9 qts is a good start, remember only check level when oil temp is 180+ and on level ground @ idle.

[Porchcar guy]

I agree with Alan that you need to take it for a 30 minute drive ....at night...to get her cleaned out.

[Alan L]

I use 8-9 litres on a refill - just done two drain outs this week - collected 8-9 litres. I think a quart is a bit more than a litre. The answer really is to get a minimum in it, run til warm then top it up. 8-9 litres works for me. Better to top up rather than have to drain excess out.
Alan

[Matt Monson]

When I pulled my '70 out of mothballs it smoked for days. Part of the problem was all of the oil built up on the heat exchangers from previous leaks. After the first day, it took 10-15 min and then the exhaust got hot enough to start burning oil. Because there was some rust in the HEs but not the actual exhaust pipes, I had oil inside of the HE housings. It was ugly, but after about a week it burned off...

[heritage2008]

Is it ok to place in drive and let it heat up for say 10 minutes over several days?

Still waiting on title so no legal plates on it and would hate to get pulled over. Even thought about placing a fan to push air around motor to keep it cool. Also sounds like this would be safer than stopping to put out fire.

[Porchcar guy]

Idling in the drive is not the same as under a load and 10 minutes at idle will probably not bring it up to temp which is what you need. can you get a temporary tag in your state ? BTW, it always helps to put your location in your address line so if any Pelicans are close by, they can lend a hand as needed.

[heritage2008]

Massillon Ohio--send PM for phone.

Listed new topic for clutch issue.

Yes, would like to chat with close members.

Waiting on title--for 2 months--PO ex is holding it up---RATS

No tag since I have no title

[stlrj]

The amount of smoke on startup is in direct proportion to the amount of oil in the oil tank before shut down and the length of time (years) it has been sitting since the last startup.

[vulcan300]

My car only had oil in the sump when I put it to sleep. After 2.5 years I restarted filled with new Brad Penn 20W-50 and started it up. It fired right up and then started smoking like it was on fire. I rolled it outside, started it again and let it idle for about 10 minutes until the smoke cleared. Hopefully you'll have the same experience. It has been fine since. The long term fix is to drive it a lot, and I'm sure you can handle that :-)

[brianmullanl]

I concur. Even my car that did not run for about 2 months smoked a lot for several minutes

[Alan L]

Idling is not the best way to treat the engine - they don't like it. But it would not hurt to do it once - just to check everything else OK and nothing gets worse - before you head off into the deep country. Make sure no major oil leaks with hardened oil lines etc.
When satisfied all is OK, try and plan a longish trip - you shouldn't need to drive it hard - normal operating temps should suffice. More a timexheat equation. Assuming that is the only issue.
Alan

[911_Dude]

Always let the car idle for about 15-30 seconds before shutting it down. Watch the oil level gauge go up as you wait. Once its stable the sump is as dry as its going to get. This will help the smoke situation on subsequent starts.