2002 Windstar LX Smokeing

Hi. I have a 2002 Windstar LX with 97000 kms on it. Once in a while, when I'm at a stop sign or a drive through anywhere where I'm stopped there is a white coloured smoke that comes out from under the hood. This problem is intermittent and whenever I pull over to check it out it goes away and I can't see where it's coming from. I have looked over the motor and don't see any visible leaks anywhere nor are there any puddles under the vehicle as well. Oil levels are fine. Trans fluid levels are fine.. I'm at a loss to explain this. Any help appreciated. I have search the forums and have not been able to find anything on this problem. Thanks.

Steam from the grille area? I get that occasionally from my 2001 LX. Always have. It happens only when it's wet, rainy & cold out. I've popped the hood when it happens, but it only appears to be water hitting the hot radiator core or maybe water hitting the front exhaust manifold and then flashing off. I've never lost an ounce of coolant, nor does the vapor have any smell other than dirty water.

Joel

That's probably it then.. Like u said.. It happened to me today and it's a rainy day out. I havn't checked the coolant level yet, but I'll get to it. Thanks for the reply.

Quick question? Is there anyway to prevent this?

This problem seems to be getting worse. Everytime it rains my van steams like crazy. Looks like I"m on fire when I'm stoped at a light. Pull over and steam goes away. Only happens when it rains. All fluid levels are good. Any advice to stop this? Should I bring it in for service?

Haven't had mine long enough to see this happen but browsing through alldatadiy.com I noticed there was a bulletin about the cowl leaking. This is from memory but I recall that there was a leak in the cowl that was causing water to come down into the engine compartment and land on the transmission and in some cases getting into the trans air breather and causing shifting problems. I don't know about landing anywhere else though but there are some rad hoses in that area. The fix was detailed in the bulletin but was basically to seal it up with silicone. Very detailed in the bulletin.

One thing this should be easy to duplicate "in the lab." Get the car nice and warm and head on over to a hand wash on an otherwise dry day. Put a couple bucks in the machine and start to spray down the windshield towards the cowl for a bit. If the car smokes then bingo. Open the hood and see what is wet (if it hasn't flashed off). If it has flashed look for dried up water marks on dirty surfaces around the hot areas.

If that didn't work and you believe it is still related to a rainy day then try spraying under the car in the engine area and see if you can duplicate it. Focus on the hot spots like the hoses, rad and exhaust. Have someone watch for the smoke from the usualy spot.

Sorry I can't be of specific help. Does anyone know if there is a splash shield or something that may be missing?

Don't worry about it. ITs the design of the engine head holding water from the condensation that settled over night under the hood. Its normal just check your coolant once a week as usual. if it bothers you I guess you can wipe it off or run the van for five minutes and open the hood for the steam to release.

This doesn't happen just in the morning, I can be driving all day and if it starts raining then steam. I have brought it into the car wash to try and duplicate this and nothing happens. I'm going to call my ford dealership and have them take a look. I just want to make sure there is no other problems. Thanks for all the help.

Good work on trying the car wash thing. You've probably just eliminated the possibility of it being water splashing up onto a hot part.

One other thing I was curious of.....do you run the defrost or air conditioner on those rainy days? I wouldn't think it would matter and I'm just taking guesses here but there is a condensation drain tube near the exhaust. Maybe it works extra hard on those humid days? But then again that doesn't account for why it stops when you pull over.

Good idea taking it to Ford. While there ask them if you can have a 'standing appointment' to bring it in on a rainy day when you know it is doing it so someone can take it for a ride with you and you can show them. There is nothing worse than dropping a car off at 8 AM and picking it up at 5 only to be told they found nothing wrong. Usually only the owner seems to be able to duplicate the conditions that cause the symptom.

Good work on trying the car wash thing. You've probably just eliminated the possibility of it being water splashing up onto a hot part.

One other thing I was curious of.....do you run the defrost or air conditioner on those rainy days? I wouldn't think it would matter and I'm just taking guesses here but there is a condensation drain tube near the exhaust. Maybe it works extra hard on those humid days? But then again that doesn't account for why it stops when you pull over.

Good idea taking it to Ford. While there ask them if you can have a 'standing appointment' to bring it in on a rainy day when you know it is doing it so someone can take it for a ride with you and you can show them. There is nothing worse than dropping a car off at 8 AM and picking it up at 5 only to be told they found nothing wrong. Usually only the owner seems to be able to duplicate the conditions that cause the symptom.
Back again captbaldo: Just had my cup of coffee to clear my head out and ponder about the situation that you are in. My last guess would be a seam leak in the radiator. A tiny miniscule leak that can be verified by a hissing sound with very little coolant leaving the overflow bottle. Oh! by the way my van never smokes when it comes out of the car wash, I guess the engine is still running and all of the condensation is burn't off going in the wash and no new condensation can settle under the hood due to heat from the engine.

My local weather calls for rain on wednesday. 90% chance. So I'm going to take it in then and hopefully the mech will see what's going on. I'll let everyone know how it goes. Thanks again.

Just had a revelation regarding this but may not be the problem....

I was flushing the rad last night and noticed the usual frame drip. I decided to clean up with a water hose while waiting for the car to warm up. I rinsed along the rad support frame with water from under the car. Naturally I got other components wet.

I stood up and guess what? A nice stream of steam coming up from the front of the car! But looking inside I couldn't see anything at all. No source of water, no stains, no anything but steam. Steam.....that stopped after about 5 seconds from when I sprayed the stream of water.

I know you already tried the car wash test without any luck but I had to share my results. When this happened to me it was evening, about 55F outside and I'm not sure humidity level. Water was sprayed onto the exhast right around the same place where it would splash while driving in the rain.

Anyway, I hope your problem is something just as easy as this!

When you go to the dealership, one of the first things that they should do is run you VIN and see if there are any notes on it.
Ask them if they can check for a TSB for the concern that you mention.
Water leaks can be very difficult to find.
I once spend about an hour with the water hose on a car trying to find a leak.......without success. Then it started to rain, very gently.....and within 30 seconds, I found my leak.

I would think that if you had any fluid leak that caused as much steam as you mention, repeatedly, you would see a significant fluid drop over time.
You have not, so I would agree with what other's have mentioned, condensation or rain water spray......much more likely the rain water spray.

When you are driving in rain, on wet roads......the spray pattern will be much different than what you would want to try to duplicate at the car wash.

One question......Does this steam issue happen if the vehile is sitting still in a downpour? Or must it be driven in rainy conditions to happen?
That is a good thing to know, and mention when you go to the dealer.
From what you have mentioned, it seems to be a driving concern, that stops very soon upon your stopping, which would mean that the water stops going to that hot place when you stop.....and what is there boils away.

Another thing to consider (and I have done this...without damage), if you have, say when parking.....gone a bit too far and hit the curb......or something hitting up under the front bumper.......it is possible that there is some sort of deflector under there that got bent or broken.....and can cause road spray to do someplace that it is not supposed to.
Over the years......they have changed the front end slightly.....so I do not know just what yours is like up there.....and you really have to bend over (or crawl) to see up under the front bumper.

Lots of good info. My appointment with ford is tomorrow. It's supposed to rain. I have already mentioned that I will take the mech out for a drive to show him the problem. It's raining today and I tried something that was mentioned. If the heating controls are on or off. Left the heat/ac setting to off. Drove my daughter to school. Didn't shut the van off. I have to let it get hot for this to happen. And its raining hard today (unfortunatly circumstances prevent me from going to ford today) Anyways, no steam. Get home and park the van. No steam. So I test. Turn on the heat control. Here comes the steam like crazy right out of the grill area. Looks like from the rad. Strange how it didn't steam when the heat/ac controls were off??? As for your question wiswind, the steam only happens when I'm stopped.. And it's random. It doesn't steam at every stop. Not sure about the TSB's but I have already asked about the vin and there are no recalls etc. I have never hit the curb. Just got this van beginning of august. No steam at all when it rained then, but then again I wasn't using the heat.. Might be connected. Any final thoughts for me before I bring it in tomorrow. I want to make sure I don't get the dreaded there is nothing wrong with your van, because I know there is. Also, I will be going out again later and will try the heat trick again and see what happens. Thanks.

... I tried something that was mentioned. If the heating controls are on or off. Left the heat/ac setting to off. Drove my daughter to school. Didn't shut the van off. I have to let it get hot for this to happen. ... Get home and park the van. No steam. So I test. Turn on the heat control. Here comes the steam like crazy right out of the grill area. Looks like from the rad. Strange how it didn't steam when the heat/ac controls were off???

I have to admit that is puzzling. If it is coming FROM the radiator area I'm not sure what the problem would be. If it is only coming from the area because that is the only way out of the engine compartment then no problem. It could be coming from on top of the intake manifold but it only comes out near the front because of a rubber seal at the cowling and the opening at the grill.

Now, if it is something in the area of the rad I'm not sure how the heater would affect that. You may want to try that same test with the hood open and see if you can see the location (if you didn't already).

My first question would be, was the A/C button on or the defrost setting selected? According to Ford all air (except max a/c) comes from outside, passes the A/C evap core and then the blend control on the dash operates a little door that decides how much heat to add to the cold air coming in. If you had the A/C switch on, and it is a rainy day, excess humidity from the air would be escaping through the evap drain tube and possibly on a hot part. Problem is that wouldn't be instant. Ours works very well though and on more than one occasion I've had people remarking about the puddle under our car from the condensation drain tube.

I just can't think how that would work for sure but I'm hoping you'll get some good answers tomorrow. And if they say nothing is wrong then maybe ask them why no other windstar parked on the lot is smoking like yours.


As for your question wiswind, the steam only happens when I'm stopped.. And it's random. It doesn't steam at every stop.

The first thing I think when I hear that is 'speed.' If it is indeed steam then there is a good chance the speed is just forcing it under the car and when you stop it rises straight up and escapes where it can.

sorry for the delay.. Anyways, Ford tech said it appeared to be caused by the radiator fans and that I shouldn't worry about it. Tests were run and it was determined that there is no leaks or cracks or anything wrong with the rad etc.. My file has been left open and they want me to bring it back the next time it rains. Unfortunatly there is no rain in the forecast for a while. Anyways, I'll update again if need be on this and once again thank you to all those that helped..

With the same issue on my Windstar, I noticed your thread and wondered what was ever determined to be a repair to the problem. Mine looks like smoke escaping the top of the strut brace. It could be water spray from the tires putting moisture where it shouldn't be, but nothing should be this hot in that area. It almost appears that the strut oil is smoking.

I believe the problem was simply due to condensation and water burning off. I've never had a fluid leak of any kind etc.. I've had my windstar since 2005 and it now has 242000 km's on it with original transmission running great. I've maintained it quite good. Anyways, as for my issue it hasn't been anything to worry bout.

Thanks again.