engine smoke
 

Hi guys

I am a first time subaru owner and I have some problems.

I started my car this morning and I left it to idle to a few min, so then I started to rev the car in neutral to see if everthing was fine, I only rev it to 2000rev, then gave it another idle for 1 min, then rev it to 3500rev, then again left it to idle for 1 min, then i reved it to 4500rev and noticed some smoke come out the engine bay.

I turned the car off, and opend the bonet, some smoke was coming from the radiater at the front of the car, it was greyish steam with no oil smell, so i assume it was water.

engine temp is fine, oil level is good (due for a oil service), boost is fine.

what could it be?

??

cracked radiator end plates, may not be noticeable on idle, but under engine revs water travels faster through the engine/rad and the pressure can force it out from minute cracks in the end plates.
It is a common problem on classic cars where the radiator fails, would ignore the engine temp as it does tend to stay in the middle, when it goes above the middle then damage has probably already occured.

at the moment temp is fine and stays in the middle.

pop the bonnet, let the car warm up, get a torch and then open the throttle by hand and aim the torch towards where the smoke is coming from.
I recently had to change my rad for the same reason probably about 4 - 5 weeks ago. Engine temp reached over 1 hundred degrees (read using a apexi commander) but the dash gauge didnt move above half way. Gauges tend to give you the info when its too late, like the oil pressure light for instance

this is the first time the smoke has ever came, where should I get a rad from?, and how much is it going to cost?

are you sure its not steam from water surrounding the area,

thats the idea of checking to see if it is that.
As I say it is a common problem so would look there first to see if that is what is causing it.

water temp gauges are crap on scoobs. mine 93wrx stops rising when it gets to the middle. its "how they all are" aparrently.

stew

more posts would be good

told you what to look for. do it and post back, then once and if that is elimated we can move onto something else

i paid £100 off ebay for my rad, fitted it myself.
mines also cracked like you guys describe, only took me a while to discover as steam only belted out bonnet when car was moving:brickwall

Could be just some moisture built up on the radaitor, and the thermostat just poped open = steam (or the ac kicked in and boiled off any moisture off the condensor rad).

Check your coolant levels, if your not loosing any...stop worrying! ;)

I'd say crack in the plastic bit or rad also.

I had a look at my rad and I have lost some water, only a small amount about class full over a couple of weeks??

Check the pressure cap, the rubber seal may be on its way out, you will see steam coming up from that :( (plus its cheaper than a radiator ;))

Tony:D

pressure cap?, are you talking about the cap that covers the radiator?, that cap seems to be fine, the smoke was coming from the actual radiator unit, at the front of the car?

will start the car again tomorrow and make sur its not moisture.

hi ppl
I been busy so i didnt have the time to check my subaru, but i managed to check it today.

I turned on the car and let it run for 8 to 10 min, temp was at middle, no smoke at all, i opened the bonnet and looked for smoke but i did not find any, car sounded very healthy.

i have lost some small amount of coolant, was the smoke likely to be due to the moisture??

??

?? any comments

If it has stopped smoking then I would just keep a check on your coolant levels.

is this normal?

its not 'normal' but it can happen you can get condensation that evaporates off, specially in cold weather.

If you are in any doubt, take it to a specialist to get checked out.

yeh i thought it was condensation, yesterday i let he car run on idle for 10min, temp needle at middle, open bonnet, i left the bonnet open for a few min and was standing at the front of car checking engine bay. with no smoke

??

You didn't say how long it had been running when the 'smoke' appeared. When starting from cold the thermostat will remain shut until the coolant reaches operating temperature. At that point the stat will open and there will be a sudden rush of hot water into the radiator. Any moisture or condensation on the rad at that time will boil off quickly looking like steam. As someone said earlier if its not using coolant stop worrying.

the car was left running for 10min, idleing at a 1000revs and temp at middle.

anymore commets???