White smoke when pushing over 5k revs?

[spinnaker]

Latest update on this one...

I think I am back to the issue being with the coolant again and not the AOS.

After persuading Mrs Spinnaker to tail me as best she could in the 4x4 while pushing the car over 5k revs yesterday it became clear that the smoke/steam is not coming from the exhaust and instead coming from around the engine itself. I was also able to replicate the issue at standstill on the driveway when up to temperature too.

Looking under the car immediately after doing this a few times showed drips of rusty orange liquid dripping from the pipes under the car. I am pretty sure Pip1968 is probably right. A split or poorly connected coolant pipe spraying coolant out onto the side of the engine where it burns off/evaporates to make the steam/smoke.

I can't see any wetness from the top end of the engine. Looking from under the car it appears to be from the right hand side of the driver's side of the engine. Any obvious places to should be really looking at closely to perhaps isolate the source?

I'll try to get screenshots of the video from yesterday to show you what I see.

 

[NXI20]

Have seen something similar before. It was caused by a failing water pump which allowed boiling water to blow off past the header tank cap when the pump couldn't provide enough flow to cool the engine at higher revs. There was pink coolant staining on & underneath the header tank.

Just a thought...

 

[spinnaker]

Cheers Nick, I had read similar as part of my googling. I gather you can check for play if you remove the belt but that is above my pay grade! Could well be an option. I had partly discounted it because the pump and the header tank are on the left hand side of the engine bay when the obvious leaky liquid is on the right hand side, although leaking fluids can run anywhere I suppose.

 

[TonyC911]

I do know that on the 996 model, there were problems with the coolant header tank developing hairline cracks and subsequently leaking when under pressure (during running).

Did this design fault carry over to the 997.1 :dont know:

Certainly worth checking for any signs of leaks in that area, perhaps place some paper towels around it and checking whilst static, as you did before.

 

[spinnaker]

Thanks, that is a good call. I can't see any signs of leakage from around the header tank but definitely worth a try. It would be nice just to be ab le to localise the issue so I can prep the indie I'll be going to next week to resolve this.

 

[resigner]

Could well be a failing water pump. Certainly get it into a good Indy, they are an essential part of 997 ownership!

 

[spinnaker]

Agreed. I am keen to get the car in and inspected properly. I had been meaning to pick a decent indie but just hadn't needed it yet. This probably would have been easier if I had an existing relationship with one.

It could well be the water pump. Should find out on Tuesday.

 

[spinnaker]

Good news! It is sorted and wasn't a nightmare or expensive.

Having driven for nearly an hour to the indie and doing my best to avoid leaving trails of white smoke/steam across three lanes I was still able to replicate the issue. In the end it turned out to be one of the plasticky clips used to hold one of the lower coolant pipes. A fresh jubilee clip has been put on (with about 6 others as a precaution for some of the other clips) and I was unable to replicate it on the way home.

It is annoying to have had to sit on something for a couple of weeks but kudos to the indie for resolving it so quickly and painlessly today.

 

[Weston Matt]

Glad you got it sorted and for not a lot too

 

[Porkaholic]

Great result pleased it was just one of those plastic clip thingys. :thumb: