Smoking in the extreme

[Clawson911]

Hi Folks, 1st time poster,

1988 carrera 3.2 blew reams of blue smoke not long after starting out on a run. seemed to be when engine got to temp,
i know flat 6s give a wee puff every no and again if theve been sitting, tho this was serious smoke. ive read an article in an old 911 mag from Aug 13 which said the smoking problem was made worse wen left parked at an angle.... alarm bell rang as my driveway up to garage is on a fair slope.

any ideas as to how to clear the combustion chambers of oil without Isle of mans finest catching me lol.

car is my dads but computers arnt his strong point

[mollytherocker]

Did the smoke clear? After how long?

[Clawson911]

smoke stopped when ignition switched off car cooled while waiting on pick up, then at the garage started up and when it got to temp smoke started again. engine was cut to prevent possible damage, as we didnt know why, car was then put of the road and is having some rust issues sorted new window and door seals etc,

was hoping to find out some helpful stuff before wee attempt the engine again. so smoking problem wasnt solved so to speak

[boxsey]

Has it had an oil change recently and if so are they used to changing oil on air cooled cars? It's easy to overfill if not done correctly which can result in oil getting in the intake which would lead to smoke.

[Clawson911]

it had been running fine after the last service for a few months tho it was only out 1 or 2 runs a week say. it had been parked on a slope tho for possibly a week and i read an article that this isnt good practice for flat 6's.

its the problem of do we try fire it up and run to see if it clears or could ther be another issue and by running it cause damage

[Clawson911]

boxsey said:

Has it had an oil change recently and if so are they used to changing oil on air cooled cars? It's easy to overfill if not done correctly which can result in oil getting in the intake which would lead to smoke.

sorry boxsey just checked with my dad there. brakes n discs were done and car was fine then oil plugs n filters done and problem started,

so looks like uve possibly found the problem, any ideas how to rectify this? and wat damage could this have caused.

[boxsey]

Clawson911 said:

sorry boxsey just checked with my dad there. brakes n discs were done and car was fine then oil plugs n filters done and problem started,

so looks like uve possibly found the problem, any ideas how to rectify this? and wat damage could this have caused.

Sorry for the slow reply.

A small overfill is unlikely to cause any damage but is best addressed to stop the smoking and give the intake a chance to clean up. I would start by removing about half a litre from the the oil tank. This can be done with a big syringe and long piece of tubing via the dipstick tube or by loosening the oil tank plug until it starts dripping. The latter will take a while as you don't want to remove the plug as you'll empty the lot. Then run the car until it is up to temperature which will take something like 20 minutes and check the oil level. Remember that checking the oil level requires the car to be idling and on level ground.

For you info, the proper way to do an oil change is drain the oil from the tank when it's hot so that the thermostat is open. Then drain the oil from the crankcase plug and then change the filter. You then add the required oil amount minus 2 litres (e.g. for my 964 I put in about 8 litres to start with). You then run the car until it is up to temperature and slowly add more oil until the gauge/dipstick gets to the correct level (about another 2 litres for my 964). This stops you from overfilling.

[thegoose]

Just as an addition to Steve's excellent post, a guide to when it's hot enough that the thermostat is open, the front right (UK driver side) will get warm due to the location of the oil cooler. It can take 30mins.

[Clawson911]

Thanks guys appreciate yous taking the time to help me out