[fvt]

Hi,

One quick Question. Today (Condition: Icy and snowy with rain), i had to warm up the car and I shifted out from OVERDRIVE to "1" to go through a thick patch of snow. All of the sudden i noticed a "burning type of smoke" from the engine compartment escaping via hood. I poped the hood and noticed that the smoke was coming from one of the pipes in the center of the engine. Now could a leak in the vaccum create this? I DO HAVE a leak in the vaccum and I do noticed that because it makes a "hissing" noise when I accelerate. Can anyone help me here.

I know it is not the coolant since coolant tank is full and there is no leaks here.

Thank for ANY comments/advice on this issue.

 

[mikehawk]

What's stopping you from fixing the vacuum leak?

 

[fvt]

Originally posted by mikehawk@Jan 27 2004, 06:46 PM
What's stopping you from fixing the vacuum leak?

weather primarily....too cold to work on the leak now...i was hoping it can hold up till spring.....is a vac leak that serious? if so, i can get it to the shop

 

[biteableniles]

Did you confirm that it was indeed a vacuum line? Was it attached to the intake, or was it attached to the EGR?

 

[fvt]

It was from the circled (RED) region. it is where all the vacuum lines are i guess. It was most likely from one of the pipes; but yeah this was a weird incident. It did not smoke after I shifted back to overdrive. It was not a BLACK heavey soot type smoke. Just steam like grey smoke.

The only thing in this region that i can think about that is very serious is the transmission lines and transmission fluid reservoir. not sure what the heck happened. but really weird. got a fire extinguisher just in case (god i hope it doesn't come to that)

 

[biteableniles]

Those indeed are where the vacuum lines are, but like you said, that is also where the dipstick for the transmission is, as well as many other things (EGR, for example) I would use some detective skills and go over that part of the engine with a fine toothed comb; try to find some smoke residue from somewhere, and see if you can't pinpoint the source. If you can find the exact vacuum line (if that is indeed what was smoking), then we can make a good decision of whether it's safe to drive or not.

Also, be sure to check your transmission fluid. You could have too much in there and it bubbled over when you shifted to 3, as the TC wasn't locked and the rpms were higher and maybe it spat out some (very hot) juice. You could also have too little and it burned. If the fluid is pink and in the correct location on the dipstick (this while the engine is hot, idling), then there's a good chance that the transmission wasn't the problem. (btw, the fact that it wasn't a white or pink smoke pretty much means that it probably wasn't the transmission, but you never know.)

Like I said, it'd be safest if you got out there and tried your best to find the source before you drived it again. It hasn't done this again since then, has it? Good luck and keep up posted!

 

[sixfofalcon]

I would check for animals in your engine compartment, or burned animals running around in your yard. Did the smoke smell like burning hair or skin?