This morning I noticed wisps of white smoke coming from the front end.

Here's the scenario: I had been doing about 10 minutes of city driving taking it real easy. It was about 58 degrees. I was sitting at a light for about 1 minute. The sun was out but I was in the shade of a building. The car began idleing a little rough while sitting at the light, nothing major. Then I noticed a slight trail of smoke that looked like it was coming from the scoop. The idleing cleared up 30 seconds later (while still sitting at the light) and the car ran fine the rest of the trip into work this morning. Didn't see anymore smoke either. Also, since I've owned the car for the past month, I've noticed a faint whistle (not whine) when accelerating in some rpms.

Is this normal?

 

Could be a couple of things:

1) Was it wet out at all? Had you been to a car wash recently? I find that after rain, or after a car wash, the water that gets in the scoop and onto the intercooler creates a good amount of steam, I've had a couple of people think my car was overheating because of that.

2) Also, check out your radiator. search for any signs of leakage, as this could also be the problem. Again, from past experience this is an area where I've seen vapor coming from under the hood. It doesn't take a very big leak to cause it.

-Chase

 

I've had this happen on several occasions, usually about 5-10 minutes after first starting up in the morning. The first time I noticed was just after I had a new thermostat installed. I stopped on the side of the road and lifted the hood - it seemed to be coming from between teh radiator and the little radiator (condensor?). So I took it back to the dealer, who couldn't replicate it. They pressure tested the system and said it was ok. Since then, its happened a few more times, but I haven't noticed any change in performance. I've stopped worrying about it but certainly do watch the temp guage more...

 

No signs of leakage. I did bathe the car yesterday.

 

I have had the same condition as others have stated. I get steam from the front after washing the car especially if I wash the engine and get a lot of water in the intercooler and radiator. I was concerned the first time until I realized it was just the water evaporating.

 

Same experience here after washing.

Pat

 

yay for the search function... 2nd week in my 06 MCS and first time in the rain. Got home and there was a bit of steam coming out from around the radiator. Kind of worried even though the temp gauge was normal... calm now, love this site.