white smoke coming out under the car while climbing hills

[xz96]

there was white smoke coming out under the car, with rubber burning smell and ticking sound. i was climbing a hill, 20miles non-stop climbing, 30-50mph, no AC, OD turned off. After I reached the top, i parked the car, and realized there's white smoke around the car, the car was idling maybe like 2min. the ticking sound still exist even after i turned the ignition off. outside temp is 80-100
elevation gain's from 2000feet to 10K feet

after i went downhill, there's no smoke at all.(I didn't give any gas while downhill, OD's still off though)

Then I drove on flat road, i checked it again, theres a very small smoke coming out, barely noticeable.

gas pan and transmission pan were sealed not long ago.


Is it normal to have white smoke coming under the car while climbing hills?
Is it a big problem?
If it's no big deal i ll just live with it(on budget)

 

[1998Exp]

No, it's not normal to have smoke of any color while climbing hills.
White smoke is usually the result of a coolant leak. If it's coming out of the tailpipe (doesn't sound like that from your description), the leak is internal, possibly a bad head gasket. If it's coming from somewhere else, coolant is leaking and dripping on a hot surface, like the exhaust manifold. Did you notice the temperature gauge climbing to the hot position when it happened? If so, you may have a clogged radiator or a bad thermostat causing overheating and spillage. You may be able to see the coolant in the plastic reservoir boiling over and overflowing.
Otherwise it's just a leak somewhere. The best way to diagnose is to pressurize the system with the engine off and look around very carefully. The gadget to do this (which looks like a bicycle pump) is available for rent from most auto stores.

there was white smoke coming out under the car, with rubber burning smell and ticking sound. i was climbing a hill, 20miles non-stop climbing, 30-50mph, no AC, OD turned off. After I reached the top, i parked the car, and realized there's white smoke around the car, the car was idling maybe like 2min. the ticking sound still exist even after i turned the ignition off. outside temp is 80-100
elevation gain's from 2000feet to 10K feet

after i went downhill, there's no smoke at all.(I didn't give any gas while downhill, OD's still off though)

Then I drove on flat road, i checked it again, theres a very small smoke coming out, barely noticeable.

gas pan and transmission pan were sealed not long ago.


Is it normal to have white smoke coming under the car while climbing hills?
Is it a big problem?
If it's no big deal i ll just live with it(on budget)

 

[xz96]

No, it's not normal to have smoke of any color while climbing hills.
White smoke is usually the result of a coolant leak. If it's coming out of the tailpipe (doesn't sound like that from your description), the leak is internal, possibly a bad head gasket. If it's coming from somewhere else, coolant is leaking and dripping on a hot surface, like the exhaust manifold. Did you notice the temperature gauge climbing to the hot position when it happened? If so, you may have a clogged radiator or a bad thermostat causing overheating and spillage. You may be able to see the coolant in the plastic reservoir boiling over and overflowing.
Otherwise it's just a leak somewhere. The best way to diagnose is to pressurize the system with the engine off and look around very carefully. The gadget to do this (which looks like a bicycle pump) is available for rent from most auto stores.

thanks for reply
the temperature gauge seems fine, the place that the smoke come out is like right under the center console.

 

[shadowless127]

Sounds like a coolant leak that travels to a hot area when on an incline and thus it evaporates and hence white smoke. I'd check radiator, all hoses, and coolant overflow tank as well as heater core and heater core valve.