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I bought a 997.1 Carrera 4S Cabriolet about six years ago. I bought from a reputable dealer, had the car inspected and all was rock solid. For years it was amazing, but mechanical woes started around two years ago. First the clutch went. Then the front suspension started knocking and I had it replaced. Then one morning it started puffing blue smoke on cold start.
A quick boroscope confirmed the worst – scoring. I’ve since had the cylinders lined and had the IMS bearing replaced, but still the blue smoke persisted. My garage thought it might be to do with cooling, so the front radiators were replaced. Thousands of pounds later, the blue smoke on cold start-up still persists, but I’m told “this is normal”. She drives fantastically, but does tend to run hotter than before.
• Is the occasional blue smoke on start-up
normal for these cars?
• Does running a slightly higher
temperature represent another problem? • My garage has suggested replacing the tappers on the pistons (brass liners?). Do you think this will be the last big, unanticipated expense?
Gareth, Horsham
Blue smoke isn’t that common during start-up. How long does it smoke for? Check if it’s from both exhausts or on just one of the banks. Does the car burn much oil? It might be something to monitor.
It sounds like you’ve had a lot of work done, however, this should not cause the engine to run hot. Following bore scoring, most people install low-temperature thermostats to help things out. It’s certainly a more desirable car to sell if all of the common issues have been addressed and can really increase the value.
I’m not too sure what you mean as to brass tappers? You have hydraulic tappets as part of the valve train, however these would not affect running hot or blue smoke.