scorpio47

Hello

Recently, my car has begun to smoke under the hood. Sometimes it's more than others, sometimes not at all. It is white smoke, and to my knowledge, nothing is coming out from the tailpipe, only from the hood. I'm attaching a picture to show where the smoke is coming from; I've circled the area in yellow. That's the area, but I can't pinpoint the exact origin of the smoke. The first thing I thought considering that it's white smoke and considering the location, is that it's coolant, but the coolant level is at full, and the temperature never goes past warm (middle of the gauge). Any ideas? If it matters any, this is a 1996 Lexus ES300.

ANY help you guys can provide will be very much appreciated.

speedkar9

Front exhaust manifold leak or rain water steaming off the hot manifold...

Does it happen when its cold and or raining?

scorpio47

Thank you! Weather and temperature don't seem to affect it. I thought that it tended to smoke less when it was cooler, but it smoked quite a bit yesterday morning, and it was a cool morning.

1960vw

Any drop in coolant level?

PFB

Have you had any work done to your car in the last week or so?

If so, than what work?

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

It looks like your car has a hydraulic fan. Have you checked your Power Steering lines/fluid? The Power Steering pump controls the speed of your cooling fan.

pyroluv

Obvious u dnt own a lexus.
Get a lexus first before even saying anything that mkes u sound like a fool.

LeX2K

lol

CUMan

Well, I have owned a 94 ES for almost 20 years. It DOES have a hydraulic cooling fan operated by the power steering pump. The hose shown in the yellow circle is the pressure hose from the PS pump to the hydraulic fan.

Does this make me sound like a fool?

PFB

Don't even bother with that guy.

scorpio47

Sorry I was AWOL - my computer wouldn't boot up and had to completely reimage from scratch...*SIGH*

At any rate, thanks for the help so far. Here's a few updates based on your questions

I've run my car (purposely) a little more than usual to see if I could find a pattern. Can't seem to find it. After running it this morning for longer and faster than normal (roughly 10-15 miles at about 65 mph), there was very little, if any smoke (steam?)

However, on my way back home, there was quite a bit.

As for the coolant level, when the engine is cool, the level is just a hair above full (I did fill it up about a month or so ago - it wasn't empty, but it was lower). After the engine has been running awhile, the level rises to about an inch or so above the fill line, which I'm assuming is normal? I'm waiting to see, when the engine cools down (I'll probably check it early tonight), if the coolant level has gone down. My guess would be no, but i won't know until I check later tonight.

I haven't had any work done on the car recently.

I don't know whether my car has a hydraulic fan or not, but power steering fluid levels are normal.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Get the car on a lift and inspect the underbody for leaks. It could also be your transmission cooler lines.

scorpio47

Okay so the plot thickens....i drove up a pretty steep hill yesterday and the car was smoking like CRAZY. After driving downhill and on level ground for awhile, it stopped, or at least, it wasn't noticeable from the driver seat. Temperature level was normal the whole time. Checked my coolant level this morning, and it was not any lower than it was the previous morning before the drive up the hill. I'm stumped, I would have thought it was coolant since the smoke is white. Any other ideas?

PFB

A bit of a shot in the dark, but check your PCV valve for blockage.

Phil

scorpio47

Okay, so it's gotta be oil leak somewhere. After checking the oil level after taking that uphill drive and letting the car cool down, I see that I lost quite a bit of oil. I thought oil smoke was usually gray? What would cause it to be white?