White Smoke

[Taner]

Hi,

I have a 1997 Explorer, XLT, V8 at 105k Miles.

I just had this unpleasant experience on the highway today on a long trip. White smoke started coming out from the front. I pulled to the emergency lane and saw that the smoke was coming from the radiator side. Everything looked fine, no check engine light, no over-heating, oil level is fine, there's water and coolant in the radiator. The belt is fine. The car starts fine. After waiting about 5 minutes, the smoke dissipated and I tried driving a little more and the smoke started again after about 7 miles. Stopped again for a longer break, continued a while after and completed the last 15 miles of my trip without smoke.

Some observations:
-I smelled gas in the cabin earlier in the day.
-The smoke smelled like burnt plastic-oil-gas.
-It sounded like something is rubbing under the hood.
-The trip today was about 260 miles with a 2 hours of break in the middle.
-I've made the same trip a couple of times. Today it felt like I spent about 5-10% more gas.

I would appreciate your comments and suggestions before going to a mechanic.

Regards,

 

[FijiBill]

Oops! Sorry I see you have a V8 now. The below applies to the OHV.

Check to make sure the DPFE hoses are OK. They are two silicon rubber hoses that run from ports on the drivers side exhaust up to the DPFE that is attached to the side of the plastic upper intake.

If the hoses crack, hot exhaust gases will start melting your plastic upper intake. That could cause the smoke and smell. Also the DPFE module won't be able to control the EGR very well anymore, which could cause the mileage issue. Plus you might have a hole in your upper intake, which could leak gas fumes and the vacuum leak could also cause mileage problems.

The stock hoses on mine lasted almost twenty years but they were brittle and ready to fail when I swapped them out. They are cheap but you might have to order them online. Easy to replace.

 

[1998Exp]

Hi,

I have a 1997 Explorer, XLT, V8 at 105k Miles.

I just had this unpleasant experience on the highway today on a long trip. White smoke started coming out from the front. I pulled to the emergency lane and saw that the smoke was coming from the radiator side. Everything looked fine, no check engine light, no over-heating, oil level is fine, there's water and coolant in the radiator. The belt is fine. The car starts fine. After waiting about 5 minutes, the smoke dissipated and I tried driving a little more and the smoke started again after about 7 miles. Stopped again for a longer break, continued a while after and completed the last 15 miles of my trip without smoke.

Something (ignition wire, vacuum hose, wire harness, etc.) may be touching the exhaust manifold. If you are smelling gas, perhaps there's a crack in the fuel line spraying gasoline vapor- that would be dangerous. Take a close look.

 

[koda2000]

Might be antifreeze hitting the exhaust. It doesn't take much to cause a lot of white smoke. Check your hoses (particularly the small bypass hose). If it's antifreeze it will eventually show in the level of the coolant tank/radiator.