02 Esteem, white smoke and battery light on

[gyre]

2002 Esteem wagon, the past couple of days has had grey-white smoke inside the engine compartment and coming out the exhaust pipe and into the passenger compartment if we're running the heater. I can't identify the smoke smell -- thought it might be burning rubber (from wiring insulation) but not sure.

And the battery light stays on while the car is running. This problem started the same time as the smoke problem. So I thought it might be an electrical short circuit... but then why the smoke from the exhaust?

I don't think it's a coolant leak since the coolant level is still up to the top with some in the reservoir.

The car seems to be driving as normal (no change in performance).

The weather has gotten below freezing the past couple of weeks, but not a lot below freezing. No accidents, engine work, hard driving, or anything.

Any ideas greatly appreciated!

W.

[jim_naisium]

White smoke when it is below freezing is normal, its just the moisture in the exhaust gas condensing in the cold air, white smoke above freezing however is not normal and means that your engine is sucking antifreeze into the cylinders.

But with that said...

Unless you smell anti-freeze in the exhaust don't worry about the while smoke, just focus on the electrical problem.

Put a volt meter (on DC voltage) on the battery and run the engine up to 2,500 rpms, what voltage are you getting?

[gyre]

Originally Posted by jim_naisium

White smoke when it is below freezing is normal, its just the moisture in the exhaust gas condensing in the cold air, white smoke above freezing however is not normal and means that your engine is sucking antifreeze into the cylinders.

But with that said...

Unless you smell anti-freeze in the exhaust don't worry about the while smoke, just focus on the electrical problem.

Put a volt meter (on DC voltage) on the battery and run the engine up to 2,500 rpms, what voltage are you getting?

Jim, thanks for the reply, which I just saw. The morning after I wrote my post the car had a dead battery, I had to work, so had it towed to the garage. The mechanic replaced the alternator (no surprise) and serpentine belt, tightened a power steering line, and pointed out that the top gasket (on the engine block) is leaking a bit. I've had no problems since then but the source of the smoke is still a mystery. The serpentine belt was worn but was not burned and the alternator wasn't seized, and there wasn't a whole lot of any fluid sprayed inside the compartment. My guess is that it was something inside the alternator burning up (possibly insulation on the windings, if they are insulated?)

Thanks again for the reply.