Ford F-150 (2009-2014) :: Excessive Steam Coming From Under The Hood During Car Wash?
Oct 29, 2011
I recently took my 2011 5.0L F-150 on a 1,000 mile round trip threw the mountains of New Mexico and back home. Upon arriving home the truck was pretty dirty so I decided to run it through the car wash real quick. This particular car wash was one of those without brushes, were it just sprays water and soap on the car the rinses it clean and blow drys it as you drive out.
I noticed that after a few seconds of water spraying on my hood there was the low rolling steam coming right out of the front grill. I quickly checked all my gauges and they showed that nothing was overheating or anything like that, but I still was worried. So when the wash was over I pulled into the parking lot and popped the hood. I also noticed that steam continued for a few seconds as rolled threw the parking lot, it however stopped before I was able to get out and open the hood so I was unable to locate its source.
Upon opening the hood I found nothing that looked outta place or anything like that, abiet the engine itself was a little dusty, but that was all. Could it just have been water touching the cold manifold or something? Overall the truck hasn't been driving any differently, so that eases my mind a little.
This is cause for a little bit of concern for me, as I have never had this happen with either of the two Trucks I owned before this one. For the record my truck now has 7,000 miles on the dot on it.
Here's a Video clip of an Ecoboost F-150 ''Not My Truck'' doing the excat same thing that mine did.
2011 Ford F150 EcoBoost Looks Like Its On Fire - YouTube .....
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Got my joe z exhaust put in today. After getting it installed i was obviously getting on the car to see how it sounds.. I came to a stop and smelled that sulfur smell that people normally do when getting on their engines but also noticed some smoke/steam seeping out from under the back of my hood. No overheating though. Immediately got alarmed and shut off the car. Popped the hood and everything was fine. No smoke at all. Turned it back on and all was normal and drove the car again and there was nothing.
What could this be? something serious i hope not. i do not drive me car hard at all. its got almost 14k and changed the oil at 10k. this has never happened before. It was hot today though like 90+ ... Maybe it was just from driving it hard?
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I've owned this vehicle since new and never overheated or had any major mechanical issues. It just hit 130,000 miles and recently completed a 1500 mile uneventful road trip running great.
The other day I noticed an excessive amount of steam/smoke coming from the exhaust while sitting at a stop light after recently starting the vehicle. Once the van was up to temperature the exhaust steam/smoke cleared up.
I checked the radiator level and found it was about a qt low, and did not seem to have any exhaust bubbling or fumes in the radiator.
Then, I pulled the dipstick and the freshly changed oil looked a bit cloudy (I got really nervous), I really can't say its milky colored because I can still see though the oil and see the cross hatches on the stick. But it doesn't look like new oil.
The engine seems to be running fine, no loss of power or missing. Starts and idles fine.
Talked with a mechanic friend and he immediately said blown head gasket or intake manifold was allowing water from one of the four corners where the gasket seals the water jacket, into a cylinder.
Since that first episode of excessive steam/smoke it hasn't reproduced the problem to that degree. It does start to steam out the exhaust after about 5 minutes of starting cold, but seems to dissipate after the engine warms.
The amount of smoke / steam in that first episode, I couldn't see the car behind me in the mirror ... I looked like a mosquito fogger.
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So for the past week or so, I've been having problems with my cooling system. (May or may not be related to my air valve stuck open code, just thought I'd mention it.) First thing that drew my attention to the problem was smoke (or steam) coming from under the hood, I let the car cool off, and drove home. During this time I also noticed the heat stopped working. I went to get some coolant in another car and filled it up. Smoke went away, and heat started working again.
Later the same day I checked the reservoir and it looked low so I figured the radiator sucked all the coolant up, so I refilled the resivoir tank. I spilled a nice amount when doing that, and the steam came back. It cooled down again and no more steam, figured it burnt off. The next few mornings on my first drive of the day ONLY, I saw steam. Thought it was the condensation mixing with the leftover coolant that I spilled since it didn't happen at all until the next morning.
Today was the first time it started steaming at night, and the heat stopped working again, even though the reservoir level was mostly full. I let the car cool down, and then I added more coolant and the heat started working again, no more steam either. Looked under the hood once I got home, abt a 20 min drive, resivoir was nearly empty even though car was still warm. No visible leaks on the smaller reservoir hose but there are puddles under the hood.
I've read it could be a leak of course, but also the Cap could be preventing the right pressure to suck fluid back in radiator after expanding into the surge tank, or something causing the tank to boil over....
Car is a 2013 Chevy Sonic with 68,000 miles. Coolant has never been drained/refilled since I bought the car new in 2013.
[IMG] ....
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2011 Sonata will not go into drive after washing under the hood. It will go into reverse, Park and Neutral, but no drive. Also, the gear indicator light on the dash is black when you try and put it in drive. What I may have gotten wet that could have caused this?
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When car is stopped after driving for awhile, steam comes pouring out of hood on passenger side near windshield. Opened the hood and steam was coming from firewall area, not from radiator. Mechanic replaced thermostat etc. for heater core but stll have steam problem. Temperature gauge reads normal and heater doesn't work. It tastes like antifreeze is getting into passenger compartment and it fogs up the windshield.Radiator cap is not even warm. Sounds like antifreeze is not flowing through the radiator.
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Was driving my 1992, 3.0 and all of a sudden noticed temperature gauge go to extreme hot, steam from hood and engine stalls. Upon inspection, the heater hose blew out, and van does not start even the next day, plus I think the starter sound different (faster). Saw spark at plug wire, smell gas, and did a quick compression with my thumb on #1, and felt air.
Towed it to the mechanic and within 5-10 minutes told me it was a cracked engine, I was not there but he stated he did a compression test. Is he correct, or can it be a timing chain problem?
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Had numerous problems the last 9 months, and we've replaced the thermostat, water pump, clutch fan, flushed radiator. Last week we thought the heater core had died (air blowing cold, but gauge not indicating any overheating). But it just need flushing, had a clog. Has been kicking out the heat ever since.
What is bothering me though is that the temp gauge always seems to be right at the C, even after driving for a while. Before the van had issues, it stayed right between N and O.
Then this morning, I hear a loud pop, smell horrible burning antifreeze and smoke/steam pouring out from the hood (I managed to park it immediately, had just dropped son off at school). After I'm parked, all the antifreeze puddles underneath.
So hubby comes, and we see that the top radiator hose has blown, with a lovely crack/hole from one side to the other. Now, that hose was old, and probably was a big part of the problem.
We fixed it, and I just drove it again, but I am watching the gauge. And the van is blowing nice, HOT air from the heater. But the gauge is staying right at the C. Used to run between N and O. It is jumpy...not jumping towards hot, but little jumps...below the C, above the C, up to the N, back down to C...it just seems strange to me; it doesn't go past the N at all and spends most of its time at or below the C.
I guess I am wondering if there is any other reason why the hose could've blown this morning besides it being old and worn out....for example, excess heat and pressure building up that for some reason is not registering on the temp gauge? It's making me nervous. Is there something else besides the thermostat that could cause erratic temp gauge or cause gauge not to show me the true engine temp?
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I have had an exhaust leak under the hood of my 09' F150, XLT, 4.6 3V for some time now and decided to get it checked out. I took to the local stealer and as i suspected its the manifolds. There are 4 studs on the left and one stud on the right sheared off. Ford quoted $1400 for replacing both mainfolds and extracting the broken studs. This would give me the exact same manifolds that were on the truck from the factory and started leaking at 78,000 miles.
So I decided to take the truck to a local speed shop that I have used in the past for other things. The mechanic there said to just buy a high quality set of stainless headers, stage 8 locking fasteners, and copper gaskets. He will install. I went with JBA shortys from AutoAnything.com and the mentioned hardware from Jegs.
So basically for around $100 more I get headers that probably will last the life of the truck. I am quite displeased with the exhaust issues that Ford has had and known about for over 20 years. The service manager at Ford said they replace manifolds with broken studs on a regular basis. He also said it was a wise choice to go with the headers instead of the manifolds even though they will not install them. That says a lot about the confidence of the Ford service department in their parts and vehicle designs.
Its a little sad that a 6 year old truck with only 78,000 miles....
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My EB makes a moaning noise when I am accelerating up to speed when driving "old Man " style. I guess its the turbo blow off valve(s) like used to happen on my old 7.3's. I hope its not anything to worry about. The truck runs string and gets 18 mpg mixed driving. I do get bon it a lot too.
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So my son has a 93 Saab... my wife was driving it home the other day and one of the radiator hoses burst, steam rolled out from under the hood and the car died. She had no idea what had happened so she called my brother and they pushed it into a nearby driveway till I could look at it. The next day I found the busted hose and replaced it, but the car still will not start? We pulled it home with my truck and a chain.
Of coarse on that car the distributor cap is right above the hose that burst so I assumed water got into the cap. I took off the distributor cap and though it seemed mostly dry I wiped it out anyway and let it air dry for a while. After putting it back together it still will not start? What to do next or what to try?
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My girlfriend has a 2004 Toyota Camry SE, 2.4, 4 cly, with 198k miles. All maintenance has been done per book guidance since she has owned the car. The other day the car began running really rough on her way home. as soon as she put it into park and lowered rpm the car stalled out. temperature gauge did not read hot, but noticed white steam comes from hood when i seen she pulled up, Opened hood let cool down and coolant looked nasty as heck. So I did coolant flush and replaced the thermostat as per advised from parts store. Did not make a difference because during test drive, half mile down the road, car temperature gauge was reading hot. Shut the car down waited 10 to 15 minutes and drove back home.
Altogether drove roughly 10 miles max in hot condition is stop and cool down and go again mode. Also note, this is the first time using a forum of this sort. Along with, I'm not a mechanic as some are, but I know my way around a tool box no problems. I'm on the verge of just ordering new water pump, belts, fans, fan relays switches, radiator and all since I'm going to be in there to fix it anyways.
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I have a major coolant leak in my '99 Dodge Intrepid. I had both top and bottom housing kits replaced over the summer and for the last month I've been having to add coolant about every 3 days to every day now. Today coming home, my car started to steam from underneath the hood and temperature gauge was rising on the hotter side while I was at the stoplight. When I got home I checked the water pump and it was empty. Not in a financial point to have this fixed right away, am wanting a temporary solution for a couple of weeks to get by before I can get it in the shop.
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I just noticed that when I start my car I hear a constant whine sound. When I press on the gas it gets louder. When I'm stopped I hear it whining. What it may be?
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So I have a 2008 Chevy Impala LS that hasn't given me any real problems. I had some battery troubles recently that were the result of me leaving the parking/security lights on for 10 consecutive hours, but overnight-charged the battery and was good-to-go after that. But it seems like RIGHT after that was when the whining noise started.
It seems to be related to my power-steering system. I know this since the whining seems to pick up with acceleration and turning. However, I checked my power steering fluid and it did not appear to be depleted at all. I did notice, however, that it seems to be a light greenish color...which from doing a google search, I've gotten the impression that it's probably not supposed to be that color.
What exactly is going on here?
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A few weeks ago I started noticing what I would best describe as a whining noise when I accelerate. It's not very high-pitched but definitely noticeable. It seems the more I accelerate, the higher pitched the whine becomes, and I can only hear it when I am accelerating. It is not very loud: if I have the radio or stereo on I can't hear it. I have a 2009 Corolla LE with around 122k miles on it (I drive a lot for work.) A few weeks ago I had the car in for an oil change, and was told that my battery was getting low and will need to be replaced soon, so I'm not sure if that would have anything to do with it. As far as describing the specific location of where it is coming from, the best I can say is that it's coming from somewhere under the hood...I know that's a very vague description, but I can't really pinpoint it to anywhere beyond that.
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My truck over heated and I now have a looks like a pin hole leak next to the front injector on the left side looking at it. I have used sealers and it does not work. Water pools around the injector. Does this sound like a cracked intake housing? I have done many repairs but this is something I'm not sure I want to do. I can get a new intake setup for 160.00 on rock auto but ford would be in the 300 or more just for the part.
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So for the first time in a while I started my truck when it was cold outside, 33 degrees according to the truck. It didn't do this at initial startup but when i started driving there was what i think steam coming from the exhaust because it dissipated fairly fast. It steamed slightly until i went to pull out of my neighborhood and got on it to get up to speed which was only 45mph. The oil temp was in the 90s at that point but when i got on the pedal the truck just started pouring white steam out of the exhaust.
Over time the truck warmed up and the steam stopped and everything was fine. Even when its warm outside the truck blows something when its not at operating temp but when its warm I can only see it at night when there's headlights behind me. Since I've had the truck the only thing that I've had to replace was the radiator because it was leaking coolant and even after that i still smell burning coolant occasionally and sometimes when i check my tank its low and then sometimes it never changes. Its very inconsistent.
The only other bad thing that's happened to the truck happened after i got my oil changed for the first and last time at NTB. They replaced the filter when they changed the oil but didn't pull the old gasket off when they put the new filter on and long story short i lost about a gallon within 30 minutes because of that and had my truck towed home. My engine light never came on or anything. I fixed the problem, added new oil and that was it. The reason I bring up the radiator, the coolant, and the oil is because i don't know if that could have anything to do with the steam.
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Every time I wash the car and it's nice and dry then many hrs later I still roll the window down and it's still wet and streaks with wet marks , even the next day , continues to streak . So don't know if this is normal for these cars or not.
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Today I opened my oil fill cap while my truck was running to find a milky substance on it and then noticed lots of steam coming out of the oil fill. I assume this is a head gasket as I have hard miss at idle on cylinder number two and cannot get it fixed. So far I have replaced a plug hoping it would fix the problem, it did not. I also noticed my temperature gauge going from normal range all the way up to the hottest it can go. Is all this just a coincidence or am I looking at a blown head gasket? 1997 4.6L F150.....
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I have a 2009 XLT 4x4 and it has a faint squeal sound coming from somewhere. I can only hear it with the window open driving between 20 to 50 Kph after that road noise is too loud. First thing in the morning it is not there seems you need to drive for 10 to 20 Km before it starts.
Turning right it gets louder left it seems to go away. Braking has no effect on the sound.
I have warmed it up in the morning and it still takes the same distance to squeal. Had it in the dealer and they changed out a front wheel bearing but that did not fix the problem. Had them service the brakes to rule that out too.
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