Um... white smoke from under hood...

[Deoxyribonucleicvitriol]

I'm taking my car to the mechanic as soon as possible (and not driving it in the mean time) because there's some kind of leak or something. I'd like to give him an idea of what to look for.

It's a 1997 Camaro V6. It only seemed to smoke at certain points on my drive home, and seemed to smoke more when I pressed the breaks/stop (but that's probably just since the car was stopped and the smoke had a chance to build up under the hood).

It seems to be dripping something... from like the center and bottom...

...and the smoke has a very distinctive smell. I think it might (?) have smelled like antifreeze...

I kept a careful eye on my gauges and the heat/oil pressure were fine. They never rose more than normal. My service engine soon light has been on for a while. That was "normal" though, because every once in a while it would misfire and I've been planning on replacing the coil packs (Already replaced plugs/wires just a few months ago).

Any ideas on what might be wrong? Hope it's nothing serious... I only know the basics... I'm not the would-be mechanic "car guy" :P

[nascar24jd]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

I think your description said it all. I would just tell the mechanic that. Sounds like a small antifreeze leak, could be coming from many different places. Before you drive it in the morning check all the fluids and if any of them are low let your mechanic know.

Anyway, watching your gauges as you did while driving home was a smart thing. Now you know that you did not cause any damage to it.

[slow6]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

checked the oil level?

[Deoxyribonucleicvitriol]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

checked the oil level?

This is going to sound really dumb... but I forgot if you check that with the car running or off. I can go check now if I need to.

I tend to not check oil much because our cars have such wonderfully tight engines. Maybe not the best thing, but I've pretty much never had to put oil in any of my Camaros (and I've owned 2)

I'm not used to checking the other fluids but I'll do my best (I know, shame shame shame on me).

[nascar24jd]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

Check the oil with the engine off.

[black95maro]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

if the oils find then it sounds like an antifreeze leak but cant really tell, not enough detail on where its coming from so id just take it to a mechanic or maybe try to get a video of where its coming from or something. (does it leave any kind of puddle's on the ground that can tell you if its a leak)

[Deoxyribonucleicvitriol]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

Thanks nascar

if the oils find then it sounds like an antifreeze leak but cant really tell, not enough detail on where its coming from so id just take it to a mechanic or maybe try to get a video of where its coming from or something. (does it leave any kind of puddle's on the ground that can tell you if its a leak)

I checked my oil and it's totally full. Like I thought, it's never lost a drop.

I checked under the car and there is a puddle :-S. I hope I can get the car to the mechanic alright. If it starts overheating or something I can always just stop on the side of the road and call a tow truck.

[nascar24jd]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

How far is your drive to the mechanic? You do not want to overheat the engine. Do you have any antifreeze that you could add to the overflow tank? Check the level in the overflow tank before you drive it. The tank cap is located right next to the battery on the passenger side of the engine compartment. When you remove the cap it has a dipstick attached to it. Check the level and fill it up as needed before you drive it unless your mechanic is very close to where you live. If you have antifreeze add it mixed with water 50/50 mix.

[Deoxyribonucleicvitriol]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

How far is your drive to the mechanic? You do not want to overheat the engine. Do you have any antifreeze that you could add to the overflow tank? Check the level in the overflow tank before you drive it. The tank cap is located right next to the battery on the passenger side of the engine compartment. When you remove the cap it has a dipstick attached to it. Check the level and fill it up as needed before you drive it unless your mechanic is very close to where you live. If you have antifreeze add it mixed with water 50/50 mix.

I don't have any antifreeze, but on the upside, the mechanic is like a 5 minute's drive away.

If it's not full could I just put some water in it?... or would that throw off the balance of antifreeze to water and not be worth it?

I'll be sure to check it tomorrow :). Thank you for the advice! I really do appreciate it.

[nascar24jd]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

I don't have any antifreeze, but on the upside, the mechanic is like a 5 minute's drive away.

If it's not full could I just put some water in it?... or would that throw off the balance of antifreeze to water and not be worth it?

I'll be sure to check it tomorrow :). Thank you for the advice! I really do appreciate it.

You should be fine for a 5 minute drive, but check the level just in case.

Yes, you can put water in it but tell your mechanic that you added water to it. I do not know where you live, but if it is cold where you are you could cause the tank to freeze with too much water. By telling your mechanic he can add some antifreeze to it and eliminate any problems.

[Deoxyribonucleicvitriol]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

You should be fine for a 5 minute drive, but check the level just in case.

Yes, you can put water in it but tell your mechanic that you added water to it. I do not know where you live, but if it is cold where you are you could cause the tank to freeze with too much water. By telling your mechanic he can add some antifreeze to it and eliminate any problems.

Good news. I got it to the mechanic just fine! No overheating or anything.

I'm going to get the leak fixed and probably swap out all of the coil packs while it's there. Believe it or not, my '97 only has about 57,000 miles on it (and I still got it for like 1,500 under MSRP mwahahaha) so after I get these kinks worked out of it, hopefully my babeh will last for another good 100,000+ miles hehe. Gotta love those 3800 II engines.

I'll let you all know when the mechanic gets back to me about what the problems are.

[nascar24jd]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

Glad to hear it. Let me know where the leak was after they fix it.

[Deoxyribonucleicvitriol]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

Glad to hear it. Let me know where the leak was after they fix it.

The water pump was busted and antifreeze was dripping onto the crank shaft position sensor, which was throwing those service engine soon codes.

He said my radiator was all gunked up (which I actually saw yesterday when I checked it... but due to my inexperience... I actually didn't know what I was looking at). He flushed it out really well, put 2 gallons of green antifreeze in it and replaced the faulty water pump and cleaned off the sensor.

He said that there wasn't a single misfire in the codes, so apparently I don't have to replace my coil packs after all :). That issue must've been due to bad plugs (which, like I said, I have since replaced with high-quality AC delco plugs and wires).

$308.44
210 for labor (replacing pump, flushing cooling system, checking codes, checking for leaks, replacing antifreeze, cleaning off sensor)
71 for parts (51 for pump and 20 for antifreeze)
27 bucks of tax

Not super-cheap, but could've been worse, and I wouldn't have figured it out on my own so it's not like I could've saved more by doing it myself. I'm just glad it's fixed :). No more paranoia.

[nascar24jd]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

I am glad to hear that it is fixed now.

[BLLDOGG]

Re: Um... white smoke from under hood...

Im sorry dude, IMO, you just got shafted. you thought you had gunk problems before, now that you have green coolant in their, you are seriously going to have some nasty stuff in there.