93 Passat smoke under hood
 

Hi all, just bought a 1993 VW Passat GLX V6, 170,000 miles. Looked
good, test drive for half hour in various conditions.

Drove for two days before white smoke started coming out from under the
hood and through the A/C vents; temp light came on. Pulled over
immediately and had it towed to my mechanic.... who was on vacation.

Next day drove it a few blocks to Jiffy Lube and on the way it smoked
again. I stopped and checked the coolant level and there was hardly
anything in the damn thing! Construction guy on the road dumped water
into it and I headed to Jiffy Lube; changed oil, told them about what
happened, they said they filled the coolant and I should be alright
just have it checked when my mechanic gets back. Sure enough not
halfway home the smoke started from under the hood again.

It looks like smoke, not steam. Under hood every time and through the
vents the first time while A/C was on; left A/C off after that. Hard
time distinguishing smell; kindof burny possibly electrical but I'm not
real sure.

Took it back to my mechanic who got home this morning; right off the
bat he found a coolant leak where a hose connects to the thermostat
housing.

Could there be something else going on as well? Any questions I should
ask my mechanic? What do you think I should expect? I want to do some
research on my own, not just take one person's word for it - you never
know.

Thanks much,

Cris

93 Passat smoke under hood
 

On 16 Aug 2006 09:37:12 -0700, in rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled
(message . com>),
> wrote:

> It looks like smoke, not steam. Under hood every time and through the
> vents the first time while A/C was on; left A/C off after that. Hard
> time distinguishing smell; kindof burny possibly electrical but I'm not
> real sure.

> Could there be something else going on as well? Any questions I should
> ask my mechanic? What do you think I should expect? I want to do some
> research on my own, not just take one person's word for it - you never
> know.

If the "smoke" stops, I'd be inclined to accept the explanation.
High-pressure leaks from the cooling system sometimes do look like
smoke. And they may have some smoke, since the glycol in the steam may
vapourise enough of the oily grunge on your engine to cause some of the
oil in it to smoke.

93 Passat smoke under hood
 

wrote:
> Hi all, just bought a 1993 VW Passat GLX V6, 170,000 miles. Looked
> good, test drive for half hour in various conditions.
>
> Drove for two days before white smoke started coming out from under the
> hood and through the A/C vents; temp light came on. Pulled over
> immediately and had it towed to my mechanic.... who was on vacation.
>
> Next day drove it a few blocks to Jiffy Lube and on the way it smoked
> again. I stopped and checked the coolant level and there was hardly
> anything in the damn thing! Construction guy on the road dumped water
> into it and I headed to Jiffy Lube; changed oil, told them about what
> happened, they said they filled the coolant and I should be alright
> just have it checked when my mechanic gets back. Sure enough not
> halfway home the smoke started from under the hood again.
>
> It looks like smoke, not steam. Under hood every time and through the
> vents the first time while A/C was on; left A/C off after that. Hard
> time distinguishing smell; kindof burny possibly electrical but I'm not
> real sure.
>
> Took it back to my mechanic who got home this morning; right off the
> bat he found a coolant leak where a hose connects to the thermostat
> housing.
>
> Could there be something else going on as well? Any questions I should
> ask my mechanic? What do you think I should expect? I want to do some
> research on my own, not just take one person's word for it - you never
> know.
>
> Thanks much,
>
> Cris

93 Passat smoke under hood
 

wrote:
> Hi all, just bought a 1993 VW Passat GLX V6, 170,000 miles. Looked
> good, test drive for half hour in various conditions.
>
> Drove for two days before white smoke started coming out from under the
> hood and through the A/C vents; temp light came on. Pulled over
> immediately and had it towed to my mechanic.... who was on vacation.
>
> Next day drove it a few blocks to Jiffy Lube and on the way it smoked
> again. I stopped and checked the coolant level and there was hardly
> anything in the damn thing! Construction guy on the road dumped water
> into it and I headed to Jiffy Lube; changed oil, told them about what
> happened, they said they filled the coolant and I should be alright
> just have it checked when my mechanic gets back. Sure enough not
> halfway home the smoke started from under the hood again.
>
> It looks like smoke, not steam. Under hood every time and through the
> vents the first time while A/C was on; left A/C off after that. Hard
> time distinguishing smell; kindof burny possibly electrical but I'm not
> real sure.
>
> Took it back to my mechanic who got home this morning; right off the
> bat he found a coolant leak where a hose connects to the thermostat
> housing.
>
> Could there be something else going on as well? Any questions I should
> ask my mechanic? What do you think I should expect? I want to do some
> research on my own, not just take one person's word for it - you never
> know.
>
> Thanks much,
>
> Cris

93 Passat smoke under hood
 

wrote:
> Hi all, just bought a 1993 VW Passat GLX V6, 170,000 miles. Looked
> good, test drive for half hour in various conditions.
>
> Drove for two days before white smoke started coming out from under the
> hood and through the A/C vents; temp light came on. Pulled over
> immediately and had it towed to my mechanic.... who was on vacation.
>
> Next day drove it a few blocks to Jiffy Lube and on the way it smoked
> again. I stopped and checked the coolant level and there was hardly
> anything in the damn thing! Construction guy on the road dumped water
> into it and I headed to Jiffy Lube; changed oil, told them about what
> happened, they said they filled the coolant and I should be alright
> just have it checked when my mechanic gets back. Sure enough not
> halfway home the smoke started from under the hood again.
>
> It looks like smoke, not steam. Under hood every time and through the
> vents the first time while A/C was on; left A/C off after that. Hard
> time distinguishing smell; kindof burny possibly electrical but I'm not
> real sure.
>
> Took it back to my mechanic who got home this morning; right off the
> bat he found a coolant leak where a hose connects to the thermostat
> housing.
>
> Could there be something else going on as well? Any questions I should
> ask my mechanic? What do you think I should expect? I want to do some
> research on my own, not just take one person's word for it - you never
> know.
>
> Thanks much,
>
> Cris

93 Passat smoke under hood
 

wrote:
> Hi all, just bought a 1993 VW Passat GLX V6, 170,000 miles. Looked
> good, test drive for half hour in various conditions.
>
> Drove for two days before white smoke started coming out from under the
> hood and through the A/C vents; temp light came on. Pulled over
> immediately and had it towed to my mechanic.... who was on vacation.
>
> Next day drove it a few blocks to Jiffy Lube and on the way it smoked
> again. I stopped and checked the coolant level and there was hardly
> anything in the damn thing! Construction guy on the road dumped water
> into it and I headed to Jiffy Lube; changed oil, told them about what
> happened, they said they filled the coolant and I should be alright
> just have it checked when my mechanic gets back. Sure enough not
> halfway home the smoke started from under the hood again.
>
> It looks like smoke, not steam. Under hood every time and through the
> vents the first time while A/C was on; left A/C off after that. Hard
> time distinguishing smell; kindof burny possibly electrical but I'm not
> real sure.
>
> Took it back to my mechanic who got home this morning; right off the
> bat he found a coolant leak where a hose connects to the thermostat
> housing.
>
> Could there be something else going on as well? Any questions I should
> ask my mechanic? What do you think I should expect? I want to do some
> research on my own, not just take one person's word for it - you never
> know.
>
> Thanks much,
>
> Cris


Cris,

Reminds me of the first time I sprang a heater hose.... Here's the
rundown:
blue gray color is oil
black color is fuel
white is coolant
These colors are usually coming out of the exhaust pipe when something
goes wrong, but in your case (coming out from under the hood) it's the
cooling system leaking. Be very careful -- If you run it low on
coolant and it over heats too much, you can crack your engine block,
warp your head ( a your crankcase head that is...) -- put your hat back
on.... And removing the radiator cover while the engine is hot may
release spattering steaming pressurized coolant that still remains --
so cover it with a heavy towel doubled up and look out.

Good luck

93 Passat smoke under hood
 

Don't forget the infamous VW heater core issue. It might be that as
well.

RepairJunkie wrote:
> wrote:
> > Hi all, just bought a 1993 VW Passat GLX V6, 170,000 miles. Looked
> > good, test drive for half hour in various conditions.
> >
> > Drove for two days before white smoke started coming out from under the
> > hood and through the A/C vents; temp light came on. Pulled over
> > immediately and had it towed to my mechanic.... who was on vacation.
> >
> > Next day drove it a few blocks to Jiffy Lube and on the way it smoked
> > again. I stopped and checked the coolant level and there was hardly
> > anything in the damn thing! Construction guy on the road dumped water
> > into it and I headed to Jiffy Lube; changed oil, told them about what
> > happened, they said they filled the coolant and I should be alright
> > just have it checked when my mechanic gets back. Sure enough not
> > halfway home the smoke started from under the hood again.
> >
> > It looks like smoke, not steam. Under hood every time and through the
> > vents the first time while A/C was on; left A/C off after that. Hard
> > time distinguishing smell; kindof burny possibly electrical but I'm not
> > real sure.
> >
> > Took it back to my mechanic who got home this morning; right off the
> > bat he found a coolant leak where a hose connects to the thermostat
> > housing.
> >
> > Could there be something else going on as well? Any questions I should
> > ask my mechanic? What do you think I should expect? I want to do some
> > research on my own, not just take one person's word for it - you never
> > know.
> >
> > Thanks much,
> >
> > Cris
>
>
> Cris,
>
> Reminds me of the first time I sprang a heater hose.... Here's the
> rundown:
> blue gray color is oil
> black color is fuel
> white is coolant
> These colors are usually coming out of the exhaust pipe when something
> goes wrong, but in your case (coming out from under the hood) it's the
> cooling system leaking. Be very careful -- If you run it low on
> coolant and it over heats too much, you can crack your engine block,
> warp your head ( a your crankcase head that is...) -- put your hat back
> on.... And removing the radiator cover while the engine is hot may
> release spattering steaming pressurized coolant that still remains --
> so cover it with a heavy towel doubled up and look out.
>
> Good luck

93 Passat smoke under hood
 

And if there's leakage around the T'stat, the infamous plastic crack
pipe and monkey heart! WTF were they thinking?


On 18 Aug 2006 07:51:56 -0700, "
> wrote:

>Don't forget the infamous VW heater core issue. It might be that as
>well.
>
>RepairJunkie wrote:
>> wrote:
>> > Hi all, just bought a 1993 VW Passat GLX V6, 170,000 miles. Looked
>> > good, test drive for half hour in various conditions.
>> >
>> > Drove for two days before white smoke started coming out from under the
>> > hood and through the A/C vents; temp light came on. Pulled over
>> > immediately and had it towed to my mechanic.... who was on vacation.
>> >
>> > Next day drove it a few blocks to Jiffy Lube and on the way it smoked
>> > again. I stopped and checked the coolant level and there was hardly
>> > anything in the damn thing! Construction guy on the road dumped water
>> > into it and I headed to Jiffy Lube; changed oil, told them about what
>> > happened, they said they filled the coolant and I should be alright
>> > just have it checked when my mechanic gets back. Sure enough not
>> > halfway home the smoke started from under the hood again.
>> >
>> > It looks like smoke, not steam. Under hood every time and through the
>> > vents the first time while A/C was on; left A/C off after that. Hard
>> > time distinguishing smell; kindof burny possibly electrical but I'm not
>> > real sure.
>> >
>> > Took it back to my mechanic who got home this morning; right off the
>> > bat he found a coolant leak where a hose connects to the thermostat
>> > housing.
>> >
>> > Could there be something else going on as well? Any questions I should
>> > ask my mechanic? What do you think I should expect? I want to do some
>> > research on my own, not just take one person's word for it - you never
>> > know.
>> >
>> > Thanks much,
>> >
>> > Cris
>>
>>
>> Cris,
>>
>> Reminds me of the first time I sprang a heater hose.... Here's the
>> rundown:
>> blue gray color is oil
>> black color is fuel
>> white is coolant
>> These colors are usually coming out of the exhaust pipe when something
>> goes wrong, but in your case (coming out from under the hood) it's the
>> cooling system leaking. Be very careful -- If you run it low on
>> coolant and it over heats too much, you can crack your engine block,
>> warp your head ( a your crankcase head that is...) -- put your hat back
>> on.... And removing the radiator cover while the engine is hot may
>> release spattering steaming pressurized coolant that still remains --
>> so cover it with a heavy towel doubled up and look out.
>>
>> Good luck

Ron/Champ 6

1963 8E5 Champ (Champ 6)
1995 VW Passat (Vanilla..yuk)
1994 Volvo 850 (Tilley)
1973 Volvo 1800 ES (Hyacinth Bucket)

93 Passat smoke under hood
 

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Don't forget the infamous VW heater core issue. It might be that as well.

maybe but VW I think had that fixed by then...my '91 Mk2 got recalled for
that in late 1991 so by '93 I'd hope they would have the Passat sorted out.