Hey guys,
Please allow me to rant, then either advise or console...
At the end of July, I attended a DE at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Thunderbolt course, as a guest of AWE (thanks, Mike!). On my second run of the day, CEL went on and a couple of laps later, the car blew huge plumes of white smoke from both sides of the exhaust (humorous in hindsight as it completely smokescreened the F360 Challenge car that was behind-he shouldn't have been on the course anyway, because I'm in the novice group doing a lead-follow to learn the track layout). I was on the main straight, in 3rd gear at about 5K rpm. Needless to say my $165 for the day and 2 afternoon runs literally and figuratively went up in smoke. My car showed minimal oil. It ran but I was afraid to do any more damage so I got AAA to tow it to the dealer who regularly services the car. They changed the Air Oil Separator (AOS) and all seemed well. The car ran a little rough for a couple of miles after but then settled down. Ok, I can deal with simple mechanical failure.
Now this weekend, my local PCA ran it's final big event of the season as a 3-day DE at the same track benefitting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I was nervous but excited at the prospect of taking my car on the track for 3 whole days! You'll never guess what happened?! On my second run, huge puffs of white smoke again!!! I was in 4th gear (~5K rpm), downshifted to 3rd, at the end of the main straight, about to take Turn 1, no CEL! I got black flagged, pulled over and everyone had to get off the course. The dash oil gauge showed a loss of 1 bar. My service manager from the dealership happened to be there as an instructor. He told me that the oil level may have been high and that the extreme side loading and stresses of track driving may have caused overflow (excuse my poor explanation but I'm not mechanically inclined). I was advised to drive the car off the track for a bit until the oil/smoke blew out. I did that and returned to the track for a third run. Sure enough, on my 3rd run, white smoke at the same place on the track, main straight on about the 3rd lap, same gear, same frustration...
Now the oil gauge showed 1 blinking bottom bar, ie, all the oil was gone. No obvious leaks. My service manager called my tech at the dealership but no one had any answers except get the car back to the dealership for a complete diagnosis. Members of the PCA club said I need the Motorsports AOS and that would solve my problem (but will it?). My car is still under CPO. Service manager said that PCNA and Motorsports Division are separate so the Motorsports AOS couldn't be installed under CPO warranty. Another friend suggested that I rig a "catch can" and seal off the intake at least so that I can still run the weekend, maybe at the back of my run group so that I won't smokescreen anyone. Service manager didn't want to rig it because he stated that it may be something other than the AOS, such as problem with scavenger pumps, or ??
Well, I put oil in and drove to the hotel on Friday night completely depressed. Sure we were having a Nor-Easter and the cold rain prevented many guys with R compound tires from venturing onto the track but I still wanted to drive and learn! Saturday, I drove 1.5 hours to the dealership without a problem. The engine buzzed along wonderfully. The car stopped smoking after several miles, at least from what I could see through the rain.
Some info: bought the car March 2008 (so still under finance), CPO until Sept 2010, had 25800+ miles for the first incident and currently has 27K miles. The new AOS only has 1K miles on it.
I've read about and heard similar stories with Caymans and Boxsters that were tracked. Their problems were solved with the Motorsports AOS. Is my car the same or just not meant to be tracked? I was not pushing it, matter of fact, I was driving like grandma trying to learn the lines and not slide on the slippery track. Believe me, I was practicing my point-bys more than I wanted to! Should I just be content to enjoy her on the street when next season comes around, then when my CPO warranty expires, start installing Motorsports parts? Or should I trade her in before my CPO warranty expires and try another 911? (or horror of horrors, a used Z06?)
I really love this car. It's my first Porsche and I want to enjoy it the way I thought it was meant to be enjoyed-on the track...thoughts and $.02 anyone?
-E.

 

I track my car a lot, I don't have any motorsport parts on it at all, run with the really fast guys (last track day pulled 1.56g's in a cork screw). And only have seen a little smoke a start up. If it were my car and I wanted to track more, I would get a new car. It doesn't seem as if this problem is going to go away (unless you can convince them to install a new motor).

 

wow, seems to be a big problem and annoying as well, did you do something out the normal, by going to a shop besides a porsche certified dealership, and get some work done, because that is weird. Good luck on fixing that problem and hope you get back to the track soon. I could only imagine how embarrassed you must have felt, my heart goes out to you, to have a porsche on the track and for that to happen several times.... that sucks....

 

E-

Sorry to hear about these issues. I've done 3 members days at NJMP (one in intermediate) and 5 PCA track days with my base 05 carrera and have pushed the car pretty hard the last three track visits (with a new remanufactured engine )

I have no issues at all.

I have seen dozens of stock 911's (along with caymans and boxsters) on the track this year and not seen any problems.

You should not need motorpsorts parts to enjoy a green group PCA event. This is something your dealer should address under the CPO warranty.

 

Well, I had the AWE exhaust and EVOMS intake installed by a certified shop (ie. not dealer installed).
Who knows if the problem lies therein? I wouldn't have known there was a problem if I hadn't taken her to the track. In 7K miles of driving her, I've only added 1/2 quart of oil. She doesn't burn oil abnormally and other than some spitting of water from the exhaust tips on cold start, I've never seen white smoke.

 

If you were to take a Porsche training session at Birmingham you would see 911's running the track at good speed all day long. Even with instructors running hot laps I saw not a cloud on the course. They do smoke a bit but if you can go 7k miles on a bar the oil is somehow being inhaled under lateral loads. Did you notice if it was running abnormally hot before it blew oil? Should try another os I guess. Would not be first time a defective part has been replaced w a defective part. What did first cel show? Get it back to the sevice manager and see if they will call in regional porsche tech asap. They know more than dealership guys. You can call 1 800 porsche yourself and ask for help thru regional manager. Exhaust is out as a prob and I don't see how intake could be related. Are you certain it was from both pipes? If from one side it might help them isolate the problem.

 

My 2006 C2S is bone stock except for R compound rubber and i never had a problem with smoke as others have. I run her with the oil level about 1/2 way down and let it idle for about 5 minutes after each session.

Maybe a race shop that has run these M96/97 motors could shed some light.

 

So sad to hear that things didn't work out as planned. Sucks to have that happen.

So can the dealership look into anything else that they have not to date? Seems like something simply is not running right since other folks report time after time that they beat the snot out of their cars on the track without issue.

Are there any long term issues that your problem might be causing?

Hope all works out well fo you in the end.

 

These cars are for fun my general rule of thumb is 'the time to get rid of a car is when its giving reliability issues and emotional stress" .

It sounds like you have pondered this and IMO are on the right path.

 

sorry to hear about ur problem , push the dealer to install a new or reman engine. good luck and hope all works out well fo you.

 

I'm really sorry to hear that man, it sucks! I have no clue why this would even happen, let the dealership run a full diagnosis and if they can't find anything then I'm afraid you should get a new car...

 

i have a smimilar problem however smoking only at startup and maybe a little in between shifts but do burn 1-2 qts per day at trackk no burning oil on street...did a lot of research..check out my post...i would be more concerned about your smoke as it is a lot on the track and you are not (i assume) pushing the car 8-9/10ths as i do with R comps in instructor group. . I have a friend (997s)who smoked a lot and had his cylinders scoped (you have to ask them to do this) and found 2 scorched cylinders and they replaced his engine....mine did not have scorched cylinders. so get a leak down compression test, check scavenger oil pumps (should be 2 ) , scope cylinders and run oil 1-2 bars from top ...AOS oiil separator is about 500 bucks and about 10-12 hrs labor! the x51 oil pan i think just helps with oil starvation and prob will not help with the smoke...god luck and let us know what you find.....the good news is that my car is still running great..
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...oil-track.html

 

I was at the event but did not see your problems - most of us were hiding from the wind & rain when we weren't on the track. A number of us that track 997S cars burn 1/2 quart or so of oil per track day and get some smoke on start up after being on the track, especially on very hot days. But, this weekend I ran 5 1/2 hours in advanced groups with no smoke and no oil usage at all due to the very cool conditions. You have something else going on and should have dealer identify the cause while under CPO. You already changed the AOS so, unless both AOS units were bad - which seems very unlikely, somthing else is going on.

If your dealer can't sort it out, you may want to consult with a shop like Farnbacher Loles in Danbury, CT or Dougherty Automotive Services in West Chester, PA, which is probably closer to you. These shops deal with Porsche track and race cars and have seen issues not experienced by cars just driven on the street - which is what most dealers see day to day. Of course with your car being CPO you want dealer to do the work if possible - you may find Dougherty or Farnbacher willing to point you and the dealer in the right direction just on the hope you will come to them for future out of warranty work or track modifications for your car. I have had very good experiences with Dougherty and Farnbacher and can recommend them both.

Good luck, hope to see you at RTR events next season.

 

Thanks for all the support guys, fantastic being able to pick your brains and get info.

mkk62: I'm waiting for the diagnostics and will report back once I hear from my tech. I'll ask about scoping the cylinders...

also, as some have mentioned: a new engine is not far from my mind because then I wouldn't have to strip my car back to stock and "build" another one...

Obsessed: I've had good experiences with Dougherty (when I had an Audi Allroad that they serviced). Actually they were at the event and I should have asked for their opinion but as you said, most people were hiding from the rain and cold.
-E.

 

yes and i hope you get a new engine...i am still hoping for one before cpo is up in 2011...

still thinking about a gt3 dry sump, and would prefer 996 gt3 without the electronics.but i think no matter what car you track there are always something to worry about RMS, LSD, transmissions etc.....keep us posted