have just purchased a Cayman, it is the tenth Porsche I have owned, and the first new one. My question is: sometimes when I start the engine it will exhaust blue smoke for a couple of seconds. The car was delivered on a Thurs. and we left on a road trip on Fri. and put about two thousand miles on the car, and after a few hundred miles r the car at some hi speeds (up to 105) Is the occasional smoke on start up ok? I never worried about it on the air cooleds it seemed like sop.

I had my first blue smoke experience this morning. the sales rep warned me about this and indicated that it is normal, he indicated that because of the flat six configuration when the engine shuts down a little bit of oil remains in the cylinders because it doesnt drain out like it does in your typical v-6 configuration and this is burnt off at start up.


Dont know if its true or not but it sounded like a plausible explanation to me.

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1 of 60 Sold in Canada 2006

Hey guys always try the 'search' function. For example you will find this http://www.caymanclub.net/topic.asp?...man+Complaints


to answer your question about smoke.


Welcome madfly it is nice to see another multiple Porsche owner moving to the Cayman!

I have a question about the conventional wisdom that blue smoke on start up is fine. It also dove tails with an oil consumption question. Convential wisdom isalways that blue smoke on start up is 'ok' because of the flat six design and 'they just do that'. Additionally, oil consumption is also 'ok.' The manual does give figures for oil consumption that are 'normal.' However, I have owned a Boxster, a 993 and my current 996 and put 10,000's of miles on them with never having blue smoke on startup. The Boxster and the 996 didn't (Boxster) and don't (996) consume any oil between oil changes, while the 993 consumed maybe a 1/4 of a quart during a 8,000 mile interval. Of the localPCA members I talk with frequently I only know of one Boxster owner that experiences blue smoke on start up (out of maybe 10Porsche owners).


Ifthe design of the flat six is thereason of blue smoke on startup(assuming it is not a track related blue smoke like the Cayman's are experiencing)then why do some engines smoke and some don't? Is it really the design of the boxer engine or is ita manufacturering tolerances issue?

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Brian

After installation of the MotorSports VOS, I no longer have white/blue smoke in hard left turns on the track and I no longer have any blue/white smoke on startup.

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Charles (arcticsilver)

MotorSport VOS, Mantis sump extension, Quaife TBD, GT3 lower control arms, PSS9s, Tarett sway bars, Softronic race plenum, Capristo exhaust, Hayden TransSaver Plus OC-1676 on power steering return line.

CHarles,

What is a "Motorsport VOS"?

Jonathon,

It's a vapor oil separator Porsche developed for oil ingestion, but not available as an option. It is a two-stage cyclone-type separator that replaces the standard VOS, quite a bit larger and requires reposition (or removal) of the secondary air pump (that helps heat up the cats duruing the first 1 minute of operation. It effectively eliminates all smoke issues. I think the newly re-designed 911 (and presumably 987) engines should make this unnecessary. The Mantis (and other) sump extender helps prevent oil starvation (and adds 2 quarts to the oil capacity) but does lower the oil pan by about 3/4".

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Charles (arcticsilver)

MotorSport VOS, Mantis sump extension, Quaife TBD, GT3 lower control arms, PSS9s, Tarett sway bars, Softronic race plenum, Capristo exhaust, Hayden TransSaver Plus OC-1676 on power steering return line.