Hey guys

I'm new here and I just bought a 2004 Acura TL a week ago.
I made short trips for the past 3 days and had the 'Check Engine' light come on at least once each day. It came and went off within 20 mins or so.

Today, I drove to the movies (no check engine light), & parked badly so I put the car in reverse to fix the car's angle. I back up the car and turn around to pull the car up forward again when I notice white smoke coming from the two sides of the engine bay. I put it back into 'Drive' and moved into the parking spot & took a look at the engine. The temperature gauge stayed at Medium level.
White smoke was seeping out from the wheel wells & from behind the engine. There was a low to medium amount of smoke. It was white. It was more like fumes and not thick. There also was a slight burning/roasting smell. No sweet smell like coolant or wierd oil smell. The smoke lasted for about 8-10 seconds.

I thought I overheated the car or burnt something so I had the car towed back home. I am afraid of doing more damage to the car so I haven't driven the car yet. The car sits fine now, with no roasting/burning smell. I checked coolant & oil levels and they are fine.
I doubt the car overheated because the temp. gauge didn't notify me of anything but fear that I messed up the transmission or clutch.

Has anyoone had this experience? Can you randomly burn a clutch on an automatic car while driving it normally? What could cause white light smoke to come out from the engine and wheel wells? If anyone knows anything, please give me some advice and some tips on how to start diagnosing this problem.

Thanks in advance

 

what if your tires kicked up some water from a puddle and it was just steam...?

 

1) Has your car gone through the power steering hose recall? Check the VIN through an Acura dealer. The problem is that some power steering hoses leaked, with a few cars catching fire when the fluid hit the hot engine block and ignited.

Check your power steering fluid level. Check the right top side of the engine block closest to the passenger firewall for wetness-- if so, that's probably the PS fluid leaking.
The recall work is free, and there was also a windshield wiper motor recall that should have been done. The recalls started back in 2007 or so, and applies to all '04-'06 as well as some '07-'08, IIRC, and is incredibly important for obvious reasons.

2) If you happen to go to the dealer for the recall work, have them pull the codes to find out what error codes cause your sporadic CEL.
Otherwise, you can go to Autozone or someone with a code reader to see if and what error codes are stored.

Welcome to AZ.

 

@Project_CLean: You know that actually is a possibility. It rained a few hours ago and the road had a few puddles. But it really is very slim.

@Will Y: Thanks, thats very informative. I'm taking the car to the dealership on Monday. WIll check the VIN with them.

Keep the tips rolling in guys, thanks

 

Sure sounds like the PS hose is leaking. You should consider not driving the car until you can be sure that it's not the hose leaking. There have been cars totaled by fire because of this. Be careful...

 

The steering wheel WAS harder to turn. This is starting to look a lot like a PS leak

 

I took it to the dealership yesterday. They simply checked for any leaks and replaced the PS hose under the assumption that the leak caused the smoking. I was driving back in local traffic and the car shut itself off at a stop sign. I pulled over to the side and the engine was very hot! The temperature guage was still at medium position (it actually had never gone above that one point in the middle). I let the car cool for an hour and drove home.
Today I bought an engine code scanner and pulled the code. It was P2176.
According to the manual, code #P0217 - meant "Engine Overtemp Condition"
Im guessing the 6 is a another part of the diagnostic code which the manual can't confirm.

Does anyone know exactly what the code #P2716 mean for an 04' Acura TL?

 

Actually its P2176!
not p2716

 

DTC P2176: Throttle Actuator Control System Idle Position Not Learned

You will need to get it diagnosed at a Honda dealer with their HDS.

 

I'd try the idle relearn procedure first, to see if that gets rid of the CEL permanently, before taking the car in for a diagnosis.

The idle relearn procedure is in post #8 of the thread here: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/rough-idle-786866/.

 

 

Good point. Although,i feel if it was something like that, the car wouldn't have thrown a code. Doesn't hurt to try this as well OP.

 

P2176 is associated with your APP sensor. It might be an indication of it's failure, which is quite common (will put vehicle in limp mode, needs to be turned off and restarted for normal operation until ultimate failure). It's about $100.. if the code doesn't go away after reset and relearn, or notice those symptoms tied with your instrument cluster glowing like a Christmas tree, get the sensor (located by passenger side strut tower, easy DIY).

 

Have you checked heater control valve. I got the white smoke with it was leaking through the valve and hitting the engine creating the smoke.. Pretty easy task.. That would explain the engine heating up no coolant going through??? Check this link out..

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/f-167-heater-water-coolant-control-valve-diy-747304/

 

^ good to see the DIY making the rounds. I never noticed smoke due to that issue. I suspect that if it did smoke from the HCV leaking that it's more than likely dripping on the j-pipe and not the engine / precat.

 

lol Just noticed that you were the genius that wrote it.. It came handy couple months ago..!! Thanks .. Yea thats how I noticed my HCV leaking when I was in the middle of traffic and started seeing the smoke.. Good write up!