Air Oil Separator - will driving around with a failed one damage the engine?

My car is smokin!!! White smoke pouring out of it for the first 10 minutes. When I open the oil cap there is a vacuum. There is old oil all around the AOS
Can you do damage driving like that and should you replace the J Tube with the AOS?

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This post was auto-generated based upon a question asked on our tech article page here: Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Air / Oil Separator Replacement - 986 / 987

[Wayne 962]

It's not good for the catalytic converters to be subjected to oil like that. In general, you won't do too much permanent harm if you only drive it for a little bit. But, I would get it replaced as soon as possible. If you're talking about the tube that connects the AOS to the throttle body, see if yours fits first and then get the updated one if you need it.

- Wayne

[eric523]

Like Wayne said, you can damage the cats by putting that much oil through them. Can also foul spark plugs, oil up your intake, air filter, and throttle body. Have also seen the extreme vacuum dislodge engine oil seals like the spark plug tube o-rings and the flywheel seal (RMS). Wouldn't recommend driving it.

[JFP in PA]

I really don't think you should be driving a car with a known bad AOS, and not because of concern over the damage it might do to the cats. The real issue is that a bad AOS can and do cause the engine to inhale liquid oil into the intake system, leading to a quick hydro lock and the need for a new engine (I have seen more than one of these). Once your suspicions about a bad AOS are confirmed, park it until it is fixed, it will be a lot cheaper than the alternatives................

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

I really don't think you should be driving a car with a known bad AOS, and not because of concern over the damage it might do to the cats. The real issue is that a bad AOS can and do cause the engine to inhale liquid oil into the intake system, leading to a quick hydro lock and the need for a new engine (I have seen more than one of these). Once your suspicions about a bad AOS are confirmed, park it until it is fixed, it will be a lot cheaper than the alternatives................

Or, you can disconnect the tube that connects the throttle body and the air-oil separator and then plug the holes while you work on getting it fixed. I believe though that this isn't good for the engine either, because it expects to see a vacuum pull on the rings...

-Wayne

[JFP in PA]

Correct; these are low tension ring motors, and will both get oil into the combustion chambers (fouling plugs and getting crud on the valves), and will get blow by into the oil sump, causing build up of fuel and combustion by-products in the oil. You might get by limping home with this setup, but I would not do it for a long period.........