Smoking Cayman
Discussion
'O6 Cayman S. On a track day, hooning around as you do, red flag so come straight in without a cooling down lap.
When I started the car back up, I got smoke - lots of it, so stopped engine, checked, started up again, left running as it gradually died down. After 3 mins smoke stopped completely.
Checked over the car, couldn't find a fault, took it out a few more times, each time giving it a cool down lap before bringing it in. All ok.
I think I may have seen something similar before (old link here), but can anyone guess at what might be happening engine-wise?
It's rather unnerving to see!
Thanks
Ben
When I started the car back up, I got smoke - lots of it, so stopped engine, checked, started up again, left running as it gradually died down. After 3 mins smoke stopped completely.
Checked over the car, couldn't find a fault, took it out a few more times, each time giving it a cool down lap before bringing it in. All ok.
I think I may have seen something similar before (old link here), but can anyone guess at what might be happening engine-wise?
It's rather unnerving to see!
Thanks
Ben
I'd agree with the notion of not to worry. I guess it sounds like oil surge to me and may be PCV related. Best to ask an expert on these engines like Hartech. Is the sump on a Cayman baffled? I imagine the smoke was blue and not white?
If it was white, and I've seen this before on very rare occasions and depending on the time of the year, but condensation/water in the fuel tank can cause a similar sypmton. Hard cornering, allows the fuel pickup to draw water from the very top of the tank producing white smoke. Seen this in historic sportscar racing but in your case most likely it was oil.
If it was white, and I've seen this before on very rare occasions and depending on the time of the year, but condensation/water in the fuel tank can cause a similar sypmton. Hard cornering, allows the fuel pickup to draw water from the very top of the tank producing white smoke. Seen this in historic sportscar racing but in your case most likely it was oil.
Edited by Lagerlout on Tuesday 28th August 17:26
seen this a few times on 996 c2, looks like a james bond smoke screen!!...think it is partly due to the oil surge and the fact that oil expands when hot, there is a lot of oil in a 911 and extra heat generated on track days, effectively overfills the car...I never run in minimum mark, but prefer to have oil level just under 1/2 way mark before a trackday to allow for expansion.
Running at speed wouldn't do the engine any good, best to let some oil out or let the engine settle down...doesn't ocurr on dry sump as the engine takes what it needs from the resevoir.
Running at speed wouldn't do the engine any good, best to let some oil out or let the engine settle down...doesn't ocurr on dry sump as the engine takes what it needs from the resevoir.
http://www.caymanclub.net/cayman-competition/12242...
All your questions and answers in one handy place.
But in short, this is normal, or rather, is normal if the car is not cooled down properly after a good stint.
If you are not wanting to do, or are not capable of doing (in your case) a cool-down lap, then coming to a stop and letting the engine run for a few minutes before switching off will do the trick.
Jack
All your questions and answers in one handy place.
But in short, this is normal, or rather, is normal if the car is not cooled down properly after a good stint.
If you are not wanting to do, or are not capable of doing (in your case) a cool-down lap, then coming to a stop and letting the engine run for a few minutes before switching off will do the trick.
Jack
jackwood said:
http://www.caymanclub.net/cayman-competition/12242...
All your questions and answers in one handy place.
But in short, this is normal, or rather, is normal if the car is not cooled down properly after a good stint.
If you are not wanting to do, or are not capable of doing (in your case) a cool-down lap, then coming to a stop and letting the engine run for a few minutes before switching off will do the trick.
Jack
Thanks for that Jack - just what I was looking for; discussion that it happens to lots of people in similar circumstances! All your questions and answers in one handy place.
But in short, this is normal, or rather, is normal if the car is not cooled down properly after a good stint.
If you are not wanting to do, or are not capable of doing (in your case) a cool-down lap, then coming to a stop and letting the engine run for a few minutes before switching off will do the trick.
Jack
Also fairly pleased my initial PCV diagnosis would appear to be correct. I got used to that with the S2000 so will do the same with the Cayman.
.fastfreddy said:
How do you feel about that U.S. forum saying that only GT2s, GT3s and Turbos are suitable to be taken on track? Seems to suggest you could get oil starvation in any of the non-GT1 block cars.
When the 996 was launched back in 1998 I took mine to the track and had a great day... anyway, before I went I spoke to OPC and I was told that as long as I was not fitting slick tyres for the track day the car would be fine for oil-surge/oil-starvation type issues and best to run the oil-level at around the mid-point on the dipstick. Apparently the standard oil-pump is more than adequate for the lateral G-force that can be achieved with road tyres - if however, I was going to use slicks then there was an Porsche Motorsport upgrade oil pump that catered for the higher g-force...Sounds like your car is fine Pikey...
Nope,
It was me at Bedford on Saturday.
I thought that I had done permanent damage, but it looks like it is normal. No smoke after that first occasion, but I did do a better job of cooling down after that. It also appears to have used some oil, which it did after my previous track day. What was strange though, was that it did not smell of oil despite the smoke screen.
As for all that baloney on the US site about certain Porsche's being suitable for tracks: why does Porsche run experience days on circuits with your own car if it can't take it?
It was me at Bedford on Saturday.
I thought that I had done permanent damage, but it looks like it is normal. No smoke after that first occasion, but I did do a better job of cooling down after that. It also appears to have used some oil, which it did after my previous track day. What was strange though, was that it did not smell of oil despite the smoke screen.
As for all that baloney on the US site about certain Porsche's being suitable for tracks: why does Porsche run experience days on circuits with your own car if it can't take it?
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