White smoke from front hood of car?

Tiny
YAYITSKATE
  • MEMBER
  • MITSUBISHI
99 gallant, 47k miles. After driving for 5 minutes I noticed white steam coming from the left side of the front hood. There was also a bad smell coming from there, kind of like burning rubber but not exactly. Car was not overheated, I checked. What can be the problem?
Wednesday, July 19th, 2006 AT 8:24 PM

4 Replies

Tiny
BURRELLD
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  • 7 POSTS
Did you check the belts? A loose belt will slip and produce smoke, plus give off a burning rubber smell because that's just what is happening.

Sometimes too, a pulley, for the alternator, power steering, etc. Will freeze up and the belt will melt while going over the stuck pulley.

Check the belts first and then check and make sure all of your belt driven pulleys are moving freely.
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Monday, November 20th, 2006 AT 9:42 AM
Tiny
RLA94501
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I have the same problem. Is it drivable. At that point? My car started to smoke the minute I parked the car.
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Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 AT 4:31 PM
Tiny
BURRELLD
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  • 7 POSTS
Anytime smoke, or steam, is coming out of the engine compartment, it is best to shut the engine down, let it cool, and then find out what the problem is before starting the engine again.

It could be a bad belt, pulley, radiator leak, burning wires, etc. Its best not to compound any small problem by running the engine until you discover the possible source of the steam or smoke, because you could turn it into a major or dangerous problem.

One time I had smoke coming out of the engine compartment, with a "rubber" type smell. Upon checking it out I found that a plastic shopping bag had been sucked up off of the highway onto the exhaust manifold. Once the bag was removed, and all of the plastic finally burned off, the "problem" stopped.
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Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 AT 5:48 PM
Tiny
OQUINT
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White Smoke?
Perhaps your engine has elected a new Pope?
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Sunday, April 8th, 2007 AT 6:00 PM

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