I was at the gas station Friday night when I noticed some white smoke coming from the engine bay.

I checked under the hood and there was white smoke coming from the left side back of the engine bay. I checked under the car and a small puddle of coolant was accumulating (it only appears to leak once the car is shut off). It appears be coming from the left, middle of the engine bay, not where I would assume the overflow would come from (near the front passenger side tire)

I thought I was smelling a slight smell of coolant buring the previous day, so earlier that day I checked the oil, no coolant, checked for bubbles (none), getting no white exhaust. There were some tiny specks of black gunk in the filler tank, like the crap that shows up in the overflow tank, and it did not smell like oil.

I was kind of suspecting something, maybe a hose was lose or cracked because every time I checked the coolant, it was an inch or so below the filler neck, but I could not find anything.

Anyway, my guess is that a coolant hose near the turbos has come lose, cracked....would you guys agree?? And if so, it is safe to drive to my mechanic, or should I tow it?? I plan on taking it to RP on Monday.

Of note, the car has not been overheating at all...

Thanks...

 

You could risk it. I drove around with a small coolant leak for about a week and my car never overheated. It isn't smart, but it can be done if the leak is small and you don't think it will burst open. Mine just turned out to be a hose clamp just wasnt tightened down. If I had to do it again I would have played it safe and had it towed.

 

once blew a coolant hose and got a bad replacement hose and i made it about 15 miles before i lost too much coolant, but i would definately NOT risk it if i were u. a tow fee is a lot cheaper than an engine rebuild.

 

I would tow it. If you have car insurance, they typically have a towing contract that you are already paying for so you may as well use it.

I'm sure you could probably make it to where you are going without any problems but you never know. As the faulty hose gets heated from driving, it may leak more and more which would not be a good thing.

 

..so I should tow. What about a diagnosis of the problem?? Not an O-ring failure??

I performed the filler cap test again, this time I let the car run for about 10 minutes. No smoke, a few small bubbles that continued the entire time, but nothing like a soda fizzing though. Maybe 5 to 7 bubbles every 10 seconds and I am sure there is air in the system.

The coolant also started to leak while the car was running, so I shut it down.

...it also starts right up, no hesistation, idles well...just hoping nothing serious.

 

Unless the smoke was actually coming from the exhaust, then O-Ring failure is not really a possibility. O-Ring failure means that coolant is getting leaked into the combustion chamber and then getting burned (thus coming out the exhaust). Smoke just coming from the engine bay means a leak which is burning off on the hot engine components.

 

I had the same problem. It turned out that the plastic radiator drain plug screw had lost it's head (sombody had tightened it too tight), and only the body of the screw was in the plug hole. The leak only showed up when the car was warmed up (once the pressure starts to build up) and it came from the middle left of the engine bay b/c it flowed out of the bottom plastic pan that way (I'm not sure what this pan is called). I'd definately check this drain plug.
Before I figured out what the problem was, I drove the car for three days with the leak. Just keep a lot of coolant around and fill it up before you drive.

 

Never risk driving a fd that has the probability to blow. Its an fd afterall. If I was you I would simply save myself the hassels and tow it, it isnt that far anyways.

 

Could be busted coolant hose that runs to/from the turbo?
Or a coolant hose that runs to the heater core (near firewall). Mine was leaking there before...

 

...thanks for the advice, the tow company just picked it up, I will let you guys know what it is as soon I hear from RP.

 

UPDATE:

It was the coolant hoses going to the turbos. RP said that when they did the pressure test, the hose exploded. Guess I got lucky I found it in time.