Smoke on start-up, Wafting smoke, not billowing. Options

[HectortheRican]

So, I just drove from Ft. Worth to Albuquerque yesterday (~620 miles) without a hiccup. I get in my car today to run an errand and I notice smoke wafting from under my hood. It smelled like cinnamon and since my radiator has cracked on me before, I jumped out of my seat to have a look. The radiator looks fine - no spraying and no cracks from what I can tell, and I heard a sizzle right after I opened my hood, like a drop of liquid vaporizing on hot metal. Right now, I'm thinking that it's probably just a worn line leaking coolant onto my header, where it vaporizes, creating the slight smoke that I saw. However, the errand wasn't terribly important and it's way too cold here (22 deg F right now) to investigate further today.

Any other opinions?

[KAOS]

First off; Happy Birthday!!

Nextly; can you verify that its on STARTUP that you see smoke, or has the car reached operating temperature first??

This post has been edited by KAOS: Jan 13, 2013 - 7:59 PM

[HectortheRican]

First off; Happy Birthday!!

Nextly; can you verify that its on STARTUP that you see smoke, or has the car reached operating temperature first??

Thanks, man! It was start-up. If it's what I think, the motor was running long enough for the downpipe to get hot enough to vaporize the coolant. I was warming up the motor and it had been on for roughly a minute when I smelled the sweet smoke.

This post has been edited by HectortheRican: Jan 14, 2013 - 3:52 PM

[Special_Edy]

Hmm too bad your not in Ft Worth.
Usually the coolant system builds pressure once the engine is hot, and this will cause a leak to become more pronounced. The coolant superheats when you shut down the engine(the waterpump and radiator cease function) and within a few minutes of shutdown is when the coolant would be most likely to leak.

Is it possible you spilled some coolant on the exhaust some time before you started it, maybe the last time you shut it off and it naturally superheated? And that upon warming up it started to smoke? Id check for leaks after parking it following a long drive. Perhaps there is a leak or a problem with the radiator cap/overflow system.

*edit
In fact I want to say Ive had 3 different vehicle's cooling systems literally explode within 2 minutes of shutdown, but never with the engine running

This post has been edited by Special_Edy: Jan 15, 2013 - 12:52 AM

[trdproven]

id ask you for more symptoms or any more details you notice.