Sollitaire

On my way to work today my check engine light came on. When I got to work I popped the hood and saw very light white smoke coming from the back of the engine compartment.

I will be taking it in as soon as I find a reputable dealer with a good service team. I just need to know if I need to have it towed, or if I could possibly drive it in.

Also, it'd be good to have a heads up about what the issue might be. Being a chick I like to at least have an idea of what's going on first so I am not given the run around when I show up with my car at the dealership.

Any help would be much appreciated.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

Hrmm, behind the engine? Is there a possibility that its coming from the Cat and up into the engine bay?

Also how many miles are on the engine? Did the engine bog down at all (act funny during idles, lose power on driving?)? When was your last oil change? When was the last time you checked the oil level?

Sollitaire

Very possible. I was running into work for a meeting so only had a chance to take a quick look to see wtf was going on as my car has never had issues in the 2 and a half years I've owned it. It did seem to be coming from underneath and up the back now that I think about it.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

I would not drive it. I would need more info to properly diagnose it but since it is an 06' I assume it's under warranty so just call mazda Roadside and have them tow it to the dealer, won't cost you anything. Also, got to the NTXrotary lounge in teh Gulf Forum and ask which dealer if the best in DFW.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

I would at least take a look under there yourself and see what is going on. It could be something as stupid as a plastic bag getting caught under the car and melting.

Did you recently do anything to the car? Oil change? Car wash? SeaFoam?
Is it possible that you ran over something and bottomed out recently?
What color was the smoke? I know you said white but could it have been grey or blue?
What was the weather like this morning? Humid enough to form dew?
How long was your drive to work?

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

Also, did it smell? I know thats a weird question, but you can sometimes tell by the smell what the source could be.

lol, "ran over something" ... i can picture her (assuming from avatar) looking under the car and seeing a nice medium to well done squirrel wrapped around the exhaust.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

SQUIRREL!

Yea...smell is kind of important. Different fluids smell different. Oh yea...and did you have any smoke out your exhaust?

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

It's a chick guys, chances are she doesn't even know how to open the hood. If she has smoke and a CEL chances are she has a problem. I doubt they both appeared at the same time as a coincidence.

Sollitaire

Bad day to wear heels and a skirt - looked under it but found nothing

Did you recently do anything to the car? - Nope Oil change was less than 2k miles ago and in June, I've not had time to wash my car or anything for the last 3 months sadly

Smoke - almost colorless actually, like steam

Weather - in Texas highs reaching over 105 for the last 10 and next 10 days or so, this morning it was about 91 on my way to work, not humid just effing hot

Drive time - takes me half an hour, showed up about 15 to 20 min into it on the highway going about 75 (dropped my speed to 60 after that until I got to work)

Smell - actually now that I think about it, almost like something melting.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Never assume that just because a profile picture is of a gal that the poster is a gal and NEVER assume that because the person is female they don't know how to wrench. The person in question already popped the hood and did the smartest thing they could have done...documented symptoms and came here for help.

Sollitaire

Thanks - but as I said in the first post I popped the hood and that's how I saw the smoke.

Gasp, I even know how to check my oil and top off my fluids. :P

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Melting smell can be bad but I've never heard of it being fatal. I would try not to push the car too hard but I think you are safe to drive it to an autoparts store if you know some friendly locals or a good dealer if you're not.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

Yea if anything, if you have an autozone or something down the street, drive there and get a reading, other than that i personally wouldn't drive too far. Since it is coming from the bay, you dont know exactly what fumes are in that smoke and you dont want to be inhaling that stuff.

oooo!!!!! im telling my gf on you!!!!

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

I'm just giving you a hard time. Don't drive it, let mazda Roadside do its job.

Sollitaire

Just watched her get towed away. Thanks guys for the help.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

It's sad but you wouldn't want to do more damage by driving it. Have you been having any clutch issues? Did you notice a burnt clutch smell? I have seen clutches fail on the 8 where they partially engage and smoke like that.

Mazurfer

Moot point now that it's being towed(which I think you should've done BTW), but was it the CEL or was it the coolant low light that popped on this morning?
I'm wondering if you were just low on coolant and hopefully didn't run it too far!


Keep us updated on what they say and check back with us before you have them fix something.

Sollitaire

Clutch seemed fine and nope coolant levels were fine too! No other lights or anything came on and all the dials read normal. When I moved it so that the tow truck could get at it easier (just backed it into a spot instead of having it pulled forward like it was), the engine sounded like something was loose. Not sure how to describe it. Alas, it's at the dealer now and they just told me they can't see it until tomorrow to even diagnose the problem.

Yay for no transportation and now a sleepless night!

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Tell the dealer you need a rental or loaner. My dealer has always given one.

wcs

iTrader: (2)

Keep us posted!
I'm interested in finding out what the mechanic says.

Hopefully its just a cracked coolant line ....

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

good luck with everything ... Does your insurance give you a rental?

Mazurfer

wcs...........said coolant levels were fine......hard to believe it would be a coolant line then, however it could match what she says about something sounding as being loose?????????

Hard as it seems at the moment....and we are all just guessing..........I'm going to say that it's the CAT and when the read the code, it will come up with an o2 sensor code and that the noise was the chunks in the CAT

When you talk with them again.....tell them you wanna know what code it threw to make the check engine light come on! Then let us know!

Sollitaire

Turns out two coils went bad and my O2 was reading rich, which is what tripped the CEL.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

Oh wow, glad it wasn't something worse! Maybe time for a new set of BHR coils?

Edit: Can you have them inspect your cat? With it running rich you want to make sure there isn't any fuel deposits left in the cat that could ignite. Might save you some money down the line to replace a blown cat.

Mazurfer

^........tough to tell if it's worth them taking a look at the CAT or not.....if it's gonna cost her money.
How many miles were on your car?
Curious as to how old the coils were(in terms of miles).
Glad it wasn't worse though!

Guess we will find out if the o2 pops back on if the CAT was damaged.