Smoke coming from bonnet after drive?

Forum for Engine, Exhaust, Drivetrain, ECU
Post Reply
Pat-189
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:43 pm
Qashqai Model: Mk.1 Qashqai - J10 (2006–2013)

Post by Pat-189 »

Hi,
Hoping somebody may be able to give me a clue on what could be the cause of smoke coming from my bonnet after a relatively short drive. Just a bit of background I have a 2010 quashqui, and it is my first diesel car. Yesterday I came back from a 20 minute drive on a A road yesterday and after I pulled up I noticed smoke/steam coming from the drivers side of my bonnet. So I pulled up onto the drive and opened the bonnet and I got a fairly strong smell of burning rubber. Upon further inspection it seemed the belt towards the front of the engine at the bottom was the cause.

Took it to the garage and asked them to have a look, when they called back they said it was the brake callipers on the drivers side and needed to change, so got it changed as I’m needing my car for work and family. However after another drive today the same thing has happened. I had a bottle of water and poured just a little to see if it was something overheating and as soon as it touched the belt it hissed.

Now as you can tell by the longwinded and very basic description I am not much of a car man, but I’d like to have some idea of what I’m getting into as me and my partner are expecting our first child this week and I don’t want to use it if there’s a risk something may happen.

andy2019
Posts: 1787
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2019 8:47 pm
Qashqai Model: Mk.2 Qashqai - J11 (2013–2017)

Post by andy2019 »

have you checked your oil level, and is there enough water in the expansion tank ?
Pat-189
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:43 pm
Qashqai Model: Mk.1 Qashqai - J10 (2006–2013)

Post by Pat-189 »

Hi yeah the engine oil is within the markers (only just so will be topping that up) as for the expansion tank, I’m assuming that’s the one to the left with the hand and steam symbol. It shows the fluid to be more than the minimum but I’m guessing it’s some sort of coolant as it’s very blue
andy2019
Posts: 1787
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2019 8:47 pm
Qashqai Model: Mk.2 Qashqai - J11 (2013–2017)

Post by andy2019 »

Pat-189 wrote: Sun Aug 02, 2020 7:52 pm Hi yeah the engine oil is within the markers (only just so will be topping that up) as for the expansion tank, I’m assuming that’s the one to the left with the hand and steam symbol. It shows the fluid to be more than the minimum but I’m guessing it’s some sort of coolant as it’s very blue
glad oil is fine, yes you found the expansion tank the blue colour will be the antifreeze in the water. does the car smoke if you just leave it running for a while without driveing about
User avatar
MikeGC
Posts: 1852
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2017 11:50 am
Location: Stockport
Qashqai Model: Mk.3 Qashqai - J12 (2021+) New Model

Post by MikeGC »

Without wishing to seem rude......
Any chance that there is spilt oil on the top of the engine, radiator, etc. ?
March '22 - J12 1.3DIG-T 160 CVT Tekna+ with all wheel drive - Pearl Black
July '19 - J11B 1.3DIG-T 160 DCT Tekna - Vivid Blue
March '17 - Qashqai J11A 1.5dci n-connecta - gunmetal
September '14 - Juke 1.5dci gunmetal ascenta premium (red accent packs)
User avatar
calnorth
Posts: 2719
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:01 pm
Qashqai Model: Mk.2 Qashqai Facelift - J11b (2017–2021)

Post by calnorth »

Someone needs to have a look at that better than the brake fitter. Is it smoke or steam for a start? The former should smell quite a bit
Mk2 Qashqai Facelift - J11b (2017–and onward)
1.6 Dig-T N-Connecta
Pat-189
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:43 pm
Qashqai Model: Mk.1 Qashqai - J10 (2006–2013)

Post by Pat-189 »

So bit of a update, I let the car fully cool, by which time it was getting dark. So did another dipstick test and found it was very very low. Which to be honest I’m quite annoyed at because I did ask the garage to check.

Normally I would have checked it beforehand but when startup the display did keep saying oil ok. So started it up and boom, ‘oil lo’

So now I’ve replaced the oil and the car sounds and feels a lot better, however again after a small journey there was a bit of smoke. Nowhere near as bad as before, so hoping it’s just saturating it now, but I’m going to take it easy on it.

Feel a bit silly posting on a forum for what appears to be just low oil, but I’m really not a car guy and although I know the basics, both the fact it told me that oil was ok, and that it appeared to be coming from a different area from the engine block itself made me believe it was something else. Also the garage stating it was the brake callipers definitely took my atention away from it.

Also MikeGC, that wasn’t rude at all :) but no nothing I could see

And Calnorth, no it was only after driving it for a bit on a A road (I was going 60/65mph)
scatz
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2019 7:42 pm
Qashqai Model: Mk.3 Qashqai - J12 (2021+) New Model

Post by scatz »

Hi, A friend had this issue on a different car (VW gold petrol) where there was smoke, it was after the car had been serviced. He lifted the bonnet and found that the oil cap had not been fitted properly, so oil was getting out and spilling on the engine, causing the smoking. You've probably already checked this, but thought best to mention.
Post Reply