Is my car ruined? Smoke coming from bonnet

Sheepdish1

Is my car fit for scrapyard or will she be ok

Driving home on motorway today and a warning was displayed on dashboard. ''Check coolant level''.

I was near enough to my home town and continued 10km. Kept close eye on temperature gauge on the way home and it didn't move. It stayed normal which I understood was a good sign.

I pulled into shop to get coolant and noticed smoke coming out of my bonnet :eek: Temp gauge seemed ok so I moved my car out of busy carpark incase it went on fire, didn't want to damage other people's cars etc. There was a lot of liquid on the ground that looked as if it came from my car.

In a panic and to get car away from busy areas I drove the car up home (1km) and parked it near my home away from other cars and houses. The bonnet was still smoking. More fluid was leaking, I collected it in a glass and it was green so it looks like coolant.

Obviously my next stop is a mechanic. Is my car fit for the scrapheap or does this sound like a simple leak. Thanks

colm_mcm

Go back in time and don’t drive it once the warning comes up.

Failing that, there’s no way of knowing what sort of damage there is without inspecting it.
I hope it’s only minor.

Oscar Bravo

Avoid all multi story carparks next time

Sheepdish1

colm_mcm wrote: »

Go back in time and don’t drive it once the warning comes up.

Failing that, there’s no way of knowing what sort of damage there is without inspecting it.
I hope it’s only minor.

In fairness the light came on when I was on motorway on the way home and I would have expected it be ok to drive to the shop to get coolant as the temperature gauge remained normal, if it didn’t I would have pulled over to the hard shoulder.

I didn’t drive around for long when the light came on

Sheepdish1

Oscar Bravo wrote: »

Avoid all multi story carparks next time

This is exactly what I thought of 😊 I moved my car out of the area as I thought it was going to go on fire!

It really shows how important it is not to leave kids in cars, I know some people do if pooping into shop quickly but car could catch fire quickly! ( there’s loads of other risks of course but fire is definitely one of them)

Atlantic Dawn

Was it steam coming out of it or smoke?

How old is the car, did you check the oil level afterwards?

Sheepdish1

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Was it steam coming out of it or smoke?

How old is the car, did you check the oil level afterwards?

Hi, thanks for reply. I didn’t want to open bonnet last night incase it something was overheating and burst in my face! My car is 2005, there is no dip stick to check the oil, a warning light comes on when needed

corks finest

Sheepdish1 wrote:

Hi, thanks for reply. I didn’t want to open bonnet last night incase it something was overheating and burst in my face! My car is 2005, there is no dip stick to check the oil, a warning light comes on when needed

No dip stick? Has to be - if not then oil is spraying onto a hot engine - Uber dangerous

Del2005

Sheepdish1 wrote: »

In fairness the light came on when I was on motorway on the way home and I would have expected it be ok to drive to the shop to get coolant as the temperature gauge remained normal, if it didn’t I would have pulled over to the hard shoulder.

I didn’t drive around for long when the light came on

If there's no coolant the needle won't move, as the coolant is what the thermostat uses. So you could have cooked the car by driving it after the warning light came on.

Not much you can do now but make sure that it's towed to a garage and not driven.

Car99

corks finest wrote: »

No dip stick? Has to be - if not then oil is spraying onto a hot engine - Uber dangerous

Not all cars have dipsticks

Phileas Frog

corks finest wrote: »

No dip stick? Has to be - if not then oil is spraying onto a hot engine - Uber dangerous

Not all cars have dipsticks. Though some cars have 2, one in the engine bay and one behind the wheel.

Sheepdish1

corks finest wrote: »

Sheepdish1 wrote:

Hi, thanks for reply. I didn’t want to open bonnet last night incase it something was overheating and burst in my face! My car is 2005, there is no dip stick to check the oil, a warning light comes on when needed

No dip stick? Has to be - if not then oil is spraying onto a hot engine - Uber dangerous

There is definitely no dipstick in it

893bet

Sheepdish1 wrote: »

There is definitely no dipstick in it

What car is it? Very surprised if a 2005 car didn’t have one.

Sheepdish1

Del2005 wrote: »

Sheepdish1 wrote: »

In fairness the light came on when I was on motorway on the way home and I would have expected it be ok to drive to the shop to get coolant as the temperature gauge remained normal, if it didn’t I would have pulled over to the hard shoulder.

I didn’t drive around for long when the light came on

If there's no coolant the needle won't move, as the coolant is what the thermostat uses. So you could have cooked the car by driving it after the warning light came on.

Not much you can do now but make sure that it's towed to a garage and not driven.

Oh dear, I didn’t realise that I say the car is done and dusted.... I suspect the coolant leaked quickly. Is there any reason this could have happened?

Thank you for advice I will tow car to garage and not drive it. I suspect it gone now which is shame as it served me well!

Toyotafanboi

If there's no coolant the needle most definitely rise to the red zone. The coolant temp sensor gives the info to the instrument cluster and it'll read the temperature of the air where the coolant should be, which will definitely send the gauge to the red zone if the car is at operating temp.

You definitely made a series of fairly bad decisions OP. That said, you may have and cold get away with it, if the gauge hasn't risen. It could be a damaged radiator from a stone chip or a perished hose has split etc, cheap and handy repairs once it hasn't overheated.

Get it looked at by a mechanic before you panic.

TheChizler

Did it smell like smoke or sweet like coolant? You'd be certain if it was smoke.

TheChizler

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

If there's no coolant the needle most definitely rise to the red zone. The coolant temp sensor gives the info to the instrument cluster and it'll read the temperature of the air where the coolant should be, which will definitely send the gauge to the red zone if the car is at operating temp.

Are you sure it's not the opposite? No coolant circulating to keep the sensor hot so it drops to ambient temperature? My coolant dropped out during a drive once (definitely nothing to do with me badly refitting a pipe after replacing the water pump) and my first clue was the temperature dropping all the way to the cool side, even before the warning light came on. Would depend on where the sensor is I suppose. Mine is away from the engine (Vectra C).

Edit: would it depend on whether the system remained closed or not? I suppose in my case a pipe was hanging off so fresh cool air was being drawn into the system, if there was only a small leak and air was recirculating it would be hot as you say.

Sheepdish1

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

If there's no coolant the needle most definitely rise to the red zone. The coolant temp sensor gives the info to the instrument cluster and it'll read the temperature of the air where the coolant should be, which will definitely send the gauge to the red zone if the car is at operating temp.

You definitely made a series of fairly bad decisions OP. That said, you may have and cold get away with it, if the gauge hasn't risen. It could be a damaged radiator from a stone chip or a perished hose has split etc, cheap and handy repairs once it hasn't overheated.

Thanks for the reply The gauge *definitely* didn’t rise at all. In what way did I make bad decisions so I can learn from the experience at least.

I kept close eye on temperature gauge as soon as the warning light came on and drove to the shop. Do people normally keep coolant in their car for situations like this? (I normally just get coolant and oil in shop when needed.)

Also, I know I shouldn’t have drove it out of the car park but I didn’t want to risk it going on fire in such a busy area.

If I open up bonnet is there anything I can look for? It’s going to a mechanic tomorrow anyway but would like to have a look too!

Sheepdish1

TheChizler wrote: »

Did it smell like smoke or sweet like coolant? You'd be certain if it was smoke.

It was hard to tell it was smoke as it smelled like singe but only when I put nose up to the grill. I was thinking the last night that it’s usually easy to tell when something is on fire but couldn’t last night

biko

Sheepdish1 wrote: »

I didn’t drive around for long when the light came on

You drove at least 11 kilometers, even though it's just ten minutes it is a long distance for a messed-up car.

Sheepdish1 wrote: »

I was near enough to my home town and continued 10km.
I drove the car up home (1km)

It's anyone's guess now if it can be saved.


What car is it? Year and model?

cnocbui

I doubt what you saw was smoke. if it was white, it was most likely steam. If the engine head didn't overheat, you will likely just need the source of the leak seen to and a refill of coolant. If the head overheated, You might have a blown head gasket, which would be a lot more expensive than an external leak or a tow.

highdef

Why won't you tell us the make and model?

Sheepdish1

2005 Mercedes Benz . It’s not worth any money at all but it’s a nice car that has served me well so reluctant to get rid of it. (Tax is a killer on it though)

Phileas Frog

It's probably just water pump failure, not engine failure like the doom mongerers above would have you believe.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

Sheepdish1 wrote: »

This is exactly what I thought of �� I moved my car out of the area as I thought it was going to go on fire!

It really shows how important it is not to leave kids in cars, I know some people do if pooping into shop quickly but car could catch fire quickly! ( there’s loads of other risks of course but fire is definitely one of them)

if yer pooping into shops , youve bigger problems than car ones

Bruthal

Del2005 wrote: »

If there's no coolant the needle won't move, as the coolant is what the thermostat uses. So you could have cooked the car by driving it after the warning light came on.

Not much you can do now but make sure that it's towed to a garage and not driven.

The thermostat controls the movement of coolant, to regulate the engine temperature. Radiators are very effective at dissipating heat when there is a good airflow thorough them, and if there was no thermostat to regulate coolant flow, the engine would be too cool when driving down a road. And when starting from cold, would take much longer to heat up etc.

No coolant, and the engine temperature rises, and will be measured by the temperature sensor, which is not the thermostat. It would be pointless having the engine temp monitor if it displays normal with an overheating engine.

Del2005

Phileas Frog wrote: »

It's probably just water pump failure, not engine failure like the doom mongerers above would have you believe.

The driving afterwards is the issue not the initial failure. Cars don't like getting hot and driving for several minutes with no coolant isn't good.

Toyotafanboi

TheChizler wrote: »

Are you sure it's not the opposite? No coolant circulating to keep the sensor hot so it drops to ambient temperature?

Exactly and the ambient temperature inside an engine block that has lost it's coolant mid operation is going to be extremely hot, much hotter than 90-100 degree c, which is where the gauge rests at normal.

ba_barabus

OP, you're probably safe lifting the bonnet now.

Some simple checks you can do.

Is there actually coolant in the expansion tank? Open it, if there's coolant good. If it's got white gunk in its got head gasket failure most likely. If there is nothing in it you could pour water in and see if it starts leaking out. Sudden coolant lose is likely due to a burst or dislodged pipe.

Although there is no dipstick for engine oil, I think there is an oil filler cap. Open it and look for white gunk on the inside of the cap?

It's likely you've done damage but if you went from motorway speed to a quick enough stop the air flow may have (and you'd be lucky if it did) been enough to cool it enough to stop it over heating.

Other place to look at, without turning the car on and with the engine cold see if the rad fan spins freely. It's possible it seizing could cause a similar issue.

Just a couple of places to look.

corks finest

Car99 wrote:

Not all cars have dipsticks

News to me a car over 10 yrs old without a dipstick? I've 2,and can't honestly after having over 35 cars /driving 43 years+ ever came across a car without one

Lofidelity

About a week ago i was in similar situation, steam coming from the side of the bonnet and a slight smell. Turns out the water pump sprung a leak and all the coolant was gone.
Lucky i noticed in time as the temperature gauge read normal and no warning lights came on the dash.

Toyotafanboi

corks finest wrote: »

News to me a car over 10 yrs old without a dipstick? I've 2,and can't honestly after having over 35 cars /driving 43 years+ ever came across a car without one

They did say it's a Merc, although details of the exact model are still sketchy three pages later for some reason.

It's definitely plausible that some models of mid noughties Merc didn't have a dipstick and relied on dashboard readings.

Bruthal

ba_barabus wrote: »

Other place to look at, without turning the car on and with the engine cold see if the rad fan spins freely. It's possible it seizing could cause a similar issue. .

Driving at any sort of motorway speed won't need the fan running. Stopped or almost stopped in traffic is where the fan is needed.

ba_barabus

Bruthal wrote: »

Driving at any sort of motorway speed won't need the fan running. Stopped or almost stopped in traffic is where the fan is needed.

I understand the system. It's a simple suggestion to help the OP start finding the issue.

ba_barabus

corks finest wrote: »

News to me a car over 10 yrs old without a dipstick? I've 2,and can't honestly after having over 35 cars /driving 43 years+ ever came across a car without one

Some even don't have a sump plug to drain the oil.

u140acro3xs7dm

corks finest wrote: »

News to me a car over 10 yrs old without a dipstick? I've 2,and can't honestly after having over 35 cars /driving 43 years+ ever came across a car without one

BMW have no dipstick either. It's a bit of a pain, as you have to let the car warm up before it will give you a reading on the dash.

heroics

corks finest wrote: »

News to me a car over 10 yrs old without a dipstick? I've 2,and can't honestly after having over 35 cars /driving 43 years+ ever came across a car without one

I had a 2003 E240 at one stage that had no dipstick just a dashboard reading

Dia_Anseo

Even the Sandero Access has a dipstick

Brian Scan

Dia_Anseo wrote: »

Even the Sandero Access has a dipstick

As a cheerleader?

colm_mcm

As a driver.

corks finest

highdef wrote:

Why won't you tell us the make and model?

This is a wind up methinks or someone who needs help

corks finest

highdef wrote:

Why won't you tell us the make and model?

Dinky or Noddy car I reckon

Sheepdish1

corks finest wrote: »

Car99 wrote:

Not all cars have dipsticks

News to me a car over 10 yrs old without a dipstick? I've 2,and can't honestly after having over 35 cars /driving 43 years+ ever came across a car without one

I know, it really is a pain. I’ve had a few mechanics baffled as to why it doesn’t have one either. It’s odd isn’t it!

Sheepdish1

corks finest wrote: »

highdef wrote:

Why won't you tell us the make and model?

This is a wind up methinks or someone who needs help

What is a wind up :-D why would I bother creating a thread asking for advice if I had no reason to

Sheepdish1

ba_barabus wrote: »

OP, you're probably safe lifting the bonnet now.

Some simple checks you can do.

Is there actually coolant in the expansion tank? Open it, if there's coolant good. If it's got white gunk in its got head gasket failure most likely. If there is nothing in it you could pour water in and see if it starts leaking out. Sudden coolant lose is likely due to a burst or dislodged pipe.

Although there is no dipstick for engine oil, I think there is an oil filler cap. Open it and look for white gunk on the inside of the cap?

It's likely you've done damage but if you went from motorway speed to a quick enough stop the air flow may have (and you'd be lucky if it did) been enough to cool it enough to stop it over heating.

Other place to look at, without turning the car on and with the engine cold see if the rad fan spins freely. It's possible it seizing could cause a similar issue. He said not to drive it again so I’m getting it toed to garage tomorrow.

Just a couple of places to look.

I’ll look for that when I’m home thank you. I don’t think there will be any as I placed a glass jar under the car and it stopped leaking, I would suspect the coolant is completely gone at this stage but I’ll check.

I’ll also check oil. Didn’t want to be messing around with it when hot. I called mechanic today and he was very helping. He said not to drive the car and not to panic too much that the amount I drove isn’t a huge amount. Fingers crossed the car isn’t ruined!

KildareP

By any chance the dipstick is not part of the oil filler cap?

elbyrneo

Wind up or not, post the model and engine type. At least 3 posters have asked, at least 10 posters have been kind enough to offer advice.

Take the 30 seconds to post the model details.....

ldy4mxonucwsq6

cnocbui wrote: »

I doubt what you saw was smoke. if it was white, it was most likely steam. If the engine head didn't overheat, you will likely just need the source of the leak seen to and a refill of coolant. If the head overheated, You might have a blown head gasket, which would be a lot more expensive than an external leak or a tow.

Happened to mine, head gasket was gone and needed to be fully replaced.

Cost near enough to €1k for parts and labour at the time, car was jittery and then temp gauge rocketed and white smoke (steam) billowing out of it.

Not sure why here is so much doubting the lack of a dipstick, while it’s a strange/silly move a lot of modern cars don’t have them. I think BMW have stopped fitting them to their cars for quite a while.

Dia_Anseo

I think the OP said it was a 2005 Mercedes
Didn't say what model

But from experience the C180 does not have a read out.
You need to rely on the digital read that says "Oil level OK" or otherwise

Alanstrainor

Sheepdish1, the only question that really matters now in terms of us helping is what car is it?

Make, model, year and engine.

E.g
Mercedes, C class, 1.8 kompressor. Or something...

But either way, don't start it. Don't drive it. Call your mechanic and see if they can pick it up. That's probably the best option here.