Yesterday i was cruising down the freeway when a Porsche Turbo pulled up next to me - we jumped on it and as pulled away i looked in my rearview to see where he was but, saw nothing but a ton of smoke behind me. At first i thought it was the Porsche but, it was me...

I let off the gas - no dash lights, no increase in temp, no noises... I pulled off the freeway turned off the engine and looked under the hood - Nothing i could see but, smelled like burnt oil - no smoke under the hood. I started it up and drove off - it was fine - I jumped on it a little - some smoke but, not as much. It's still smoking at high Rev/speed...

Anyone know what's up? Has this ever happened to anyone?

By the way warranty is out... Please no smart azz remarks as i am already sheeting bricks... Thanks

It could be that oil is blowing past the piston rings at full throttle. If that is happening, you'd need a "ring job" to fix the problem.

I'd suggest finding a good, trustworthy independent garage and having them take a look. A simple compression test should reveal quite a bit of information.

In the meanwhile I'd also suggest you keep a close eye on your oil level. Burning a little oil won't harm your engine but a low oil level can destroy it.

Good luck! Hope it turns out to be something cheap to fix!!

That was my initial thought. I hope something less expensive...

That was my initial thought. I hope something less expensive...

Anybody else?

Also, anyone know a trusted shop in Arizona?

blowing smoke at wot could be piston rings or worn valve guides, but it could be also blower- related. if your engine has less than 100k miles it is unlikely that you have oil blow-by in the cylinders...

alex
few cars

this happend to me this past summer ...... when i went to get a oil change not too long ago .... the shop said i was running on low oil .... so make sure u have enuff oil in ur car .

ever since i got my oil change i never seen smoke again .

Good feedback... I appreciate the info. I'll check oil now...

What was the issue with the blower?

at full throttle the exhaus gas is jetting out so fast that it would disturb any dust and dirt on the road. I sometime see what appears to be smoke at full throttle acceleration when in fact it seems to be road dirst being swooped up.

Get back to the begining. What colour was the smoke? Was it blue or grey?

If it was grey then don't worry about it. It'll just be loose carbon buildup from the exhaust and some rich running from the full load.

If it's blue then it's oil burning which is a bit of a problem when it's under high load. Blocked breather hoses, worn valve guides and infrequent oil changes with low quality oil (sticking piston rings) are the usual colprets.

At first i thought it was just blowing out as the car sat for a few weeks. But, it was blue smoke and it is still doing it. Now, when i pull into the garage there is a oil smell to the engine compartment but, no smoke - just a slight smell. There are no leaks that i can see...

I guess i'll try the oil change and see if that works eventhough it is not due...

Thanks for the assistance...

Dan:

Sorry to hear about the smoke. I sent you an email this morning with a suggestion and a mechanic.

Thanks Dino - I can always couunt on you for help... I talked to Alex he referred me to Charles at Autohaus in Scottsdale. We are suspecting the same things as suggested above - he is leaning towards blow-out exhaust but, the color of smoke is concerning him. I am taking it over to him on Thursday and will let eveyone know what the issue ends up being...

Thanks everyone - especially for the good honest input and not making me feel like the idiot that i am... LOL

If you have really high mileage it can be caused from old clogged Cat's, it will only smoke @ high rpm's under full load...Then again the BLUE colored smoke doesn't sound good...

Goodluck

Well folks, took the Beast into a fantastic repair shop (Autohaus Scottsdale AZ ) The owners name is Charles Gonzalez - He has a tremndous amount of experience with MBZ. He ran all the test and found nothing other than being a quart low on oil and a Supercharger pump code that was probably thrown by changing to a Johnson pump. Compression was fine and everything else that was suspect was clear.

Some of you may not trust the Oil check function but, he swears by it...

I drove off and after baby'ing it all the way there i had to stomp on it... Yeah baby - NO SMOKE...

It drove hard and fast. On the way home a guy with an M6 wanted a go -so i gave him a "peice of the beast"...

As my license plates says "BAH BYE"

I love this car... Thanks Dino at Veloce for that ECU tune... Money well spent.

Again Thank you all for your help and suuggestions..

Dan

Glad to hear it just took a quart of oil to fix. G_kats had that one called right!

on a somewhat unrelated note - is your car stock?

you might smoke a 996 turbo, but not an m6 with an sl55... trust me on that one..

and the 997 turbo is faster than both the sl55 and the m6...

glad you were just low on oil. now keep in mind that this condition must have a culprit. the 55 blown motors are not known to burn oil from what i've heard..


alex
few cars

Nice to here it was a simple fix!

Great to know no need to spend BIG amount of $$$$ on engine repair.
What about more engine upgrades!.

ALX - Thanks for the info on the M6... I had a feeling based on the sound of that car that he may have been holding back... I will certainly keep that in mind before i get ballzy again...

In refernce to the oil issue - yes i am still somewhat concerned however, i am due for an oil change in about 1200 miles (service B) so, i thought maybe a quart was not a huge concern?

i guess the guys that built our engines must of been twin brothers

Could be a problem but they can burn oil just because. Mine takes a quart every 1500