599 Issues - First drive after winter storage

Hi all,

This afternoon, my father and I took the cover/trickle off the 599 and took it for the first drive of the season. When we put the car away last year, aside from a TPMS failure and a few other electrical gremlins, the car was perfect.

Today, on startup, the car was fine. By the time we reached the end of our driveway (about 800 feet), what seemed like white smoke was coming out of the hood. Strangely, it came out right under the windshield (underneath the wiper) and it was only on the driver's side. Smelled pretty bad. Disappeared after a few minutes (happened once before, maybe a year ago - our shop inspected and said it was fine). When opening the hood to check it out, I put my ear into the engine bay and heard a new noise - almost sounds like an empty plastic bottle rattling around.

I took a video of both. In the video showing the smoke, its barely visible (was a bit more visible in person). In the video showing the engine sound, first I zoom on the area that the smoke was coming from, then I zoom in on where the sound seems to be coming from.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/r8B53Ck4uVpmeLLY9

Any ideas what either of these (the smoke, or the noise) could be? Drove the car for 15 minutes - temp and oil pressure were normal.

2007 599 GTB with 14k miles, never tracked or abused.

Thanks!

 

Re the engine bay nose, sounds to me looks a heat shield has worked its way loose.

 

Hi I had exactly the same thing happen to my car and I was advised by Ferrari when I took it in that it was the quote on quote
"Slight burning smell in vehicle when starting from cold, we have identified that both Cam cover gaskets are leaking (not excessive). The rectification would be to replace the Cam cover gaskets and inlet manifold gaskets estimated at £2000+ Vat.

 

Pretty common and a lot of work to do. SO, on my car they are going to stay that way until it an issue or something has to come apart.

 

My guy repainted my Cam covers as they were tatty at the back (a common issue) and it was a £1.2k job inc paint strip and refit.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll give our shop a call later this afternoon and update the thread when I know more. Now that you all mention it, seems like it very well could be the cam cover gasket.

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Pretty common. Oil seems to be pooling in the rear of the cam covers and then seep onto the headers. Just a few drops can create lots of smoke. You can try to snug up the cam cover bolts - don't overdo it. If it only happens during long-term storage, I'd not worry about it.

 

Started the car today. Let it run in the garage for a few mins. Nothing happened, no smoke. I backed it out of the garage and saw very little smoke which only lasted for a few seconds before clearing. Smelled of either rubber or oil. Drove the car for maybe 5 mins. Nothing else.

Now that I think about it, the few times this has happened in the last year, they were after reversing. Also, I started the car once over Winter and remember the car started differently - it normally explodes to life, but that one time it sounded like a "lazy" start. Not sure if any of that is related but figured I'd mention it.

Right now I have an appointment for the car to go in early next week. Will check the bolts and if the problem persists, I'll mention it to the shop.

In your experience, what would cause oil to pool in the cam covers?

Thanks!

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Eric- First thing I would do is put a new battery in her. That causes all kinds of problems, obviously not oil leaks.

 

I would get the oil leak fixed. Something similar happened to me and got remedied before bigger damage to the car. Still costed me $5000 but avoided the oil to creep up into ECUs etc. That would have costed a lot more ... also started with bit of white smoke!

 

Owning a Porsche 993 has cured me of worrying about minor valve cover oil leaks. It seems to happen every 3-4 years. On a 993 the oil pools on top of the heat exchanger. Talk about smoking when she warms up. Replacing the seals is neither hard nor expensive but access is awkward.

On the 599, I'd consider replacing the seals if it smokes on every start-up. Replacing the camshaft cover seals is pretty straightforward but time-consuming. You do not have to take off the entire intake manifold.

 

Update: The car has been fixed and is back home. Like many of you suggested, the car ended up needing both cam cover gaskets, and a fuel plenum. Looking forward to a great driving season! Image Unavailable, Please Login

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Excellent! Drive in good health and keep the pics coming!