Smoke coming from engine compartment

Hi Blaine,

It sure sounds like you have an external leak and you are smelling it and seeing because it is burning off. This means it is leaking onto something that gets hot like the engine block, transmission, or exhaust.

Here is a guide that will give you the most common places for leaks:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-is-leaking-oil

If none of these prove to be your issue, the best option you have is to check your oil and see if it is low. There is a chance that the oil is a transmission oil leak so we want to try and identify which oil it is.

Once we can identify which oil it is by seeing if either is low, then we want to add dye to the that system. Then drive the vehicle as normal for a day or so then start looking for where the dye/oil is coming from.

Here is a video that shows how to do this. You can buy these at any auto parts store pretty cheap.

https://youtu.be/B3P5Ntqb_pU

It is unlikely that hoses would get hot enough to cause smoke. What I would suggest is just looking for the smoke to start again, and immediately stop (when safe) and get under the hood to try and locate it. Other than that the oil dye is your only other option. I would put my money on something dripping onto the exhaust and it burns off. That is why you are not seeing anything because by the time you are getting out to look, it is gone.