Smoke coming from bonnet?

photome

Is it smoke or steam?

dont know who told you that either is normal

ktcoil

It was steam a few wells back on the one occasion as the water tank cap had come loose and it was coming from the right hand side, noticed it had gone all over different parts but after tightening it back up and filling that got sorted, it has just happened in the last two days where it likes more like smoke but it's not very dark colour and it just happened on that hill.



I was saying it could be the weather as its happened the last two days which have been. Much warmer than other days this year.

Zandoni

It's probably just the rain evaporating off the bonnet with the heat of the engine.

Norman_Castle

ktcoil wrote: »

Hi it was fine afterwards. Thinking if I took it guarage it might be over a grand to pay out

Lifting the bonnet and pointing your face at the engine is free.

lambda

Hi

Firstly don't panic. I don't think you need a new car, and from what you are describing, it doesn't sound serious enough for it to even be anywhere near a grand to repair.

It sounds to me, like you may have a small coolant leak somewhere. You said the expansion cap was loose and you tightened it. Has the problem happened again since then? Please be careful checking the expansion cap - never check it when the engine is hot, or you might seriously scald yourself.

Keep an eye on the coolant level in your expansion tank. Check it every few days. If the level is dropping, then you probably have a leak. The steam may be caused by the hot coolant splashing out of somewhere (like a damaged hose or radiator) and hitting the hot engine, causing steam.

Coolant issues are not hard to fix, and won't cost you a grand. Take it to a good trust worthy independent mechanic. Keep an eye on the coolant level first though, if it drops, you probably have a small leak.

The weather won't effect it. I've never heard of steam coming from a bonnet to be normal, unless it is just condensation. Watch your temperature level as well to make sure the car is not over heating.

Keep us posted on the levels.

jk0

I'm wondering if o/p is putting too much water in the expansion tank. Then, when the engine gets hot, it expands & overflows onto the hot engine causing steam.

[Deleted User]

lambda wrote: »

Hi

Firstly don't panic. I don't think you need a new car, and from what you are describing, it doesn't sound serious enough for it to even be anywhere near a grand to repair.

It sounds to me, like you may have a small coolant leak somewhere. You said the expansion cap was loose and you tightened it. Has the problem happened again since then? Please be careful checking the expansion cap - never check it when the engine is hot, or you might seriously scald yourself.

Keep an eye on the coolant level in your expansion tank. Check it every few days. If the level is dropping, then you probably have a leak. The steam may be caused by the hot coolant splashing out of somewhere (like a damaged hose or radiator) and hitting the hot engine, causing steam.

Coolant issues are not hard to fix, and won't cost you a grand. Take it to a good trust worthy independent mechanic. Keep an eye on the coolant level first though, if it drops, you probably have a small leak.

The weather won't effect it. I've never heard of steam coming from a bonnet to be normal, unless it is just condensation. Watch your temperature level as well to make sure the car is not over heating.

Keep us posted on the levels.

Coolant issues are a hard fix if it is one of the common things like a cylinder head gasket leaking a bit.Get ready for a whopping big bill if that is the case.
I remember driving around for around 2 years with a mystery leak of my coolant which slowly got worse.The coolant was leaking into the engine. Surprisingly it ran OK with this leak into the engine. When I took a spark plug out and moved car in gear a bit I got squirted in the eye with water spouting out of the engine ! It only cost me a £15 head gasket set to mend it because I can bodge a bit on cars but to a non mechanic it will prob be over £400 to fix.