Car Problems??????????

Question

My car just started smoking right after I got home and turn off the engine. We poured water on it, a lot of water and it stopped, right now were letting it cool down. I really need help. I don't know what to do. What does it mean when it smokes like that? Is it safe driving it after it cools down? Will it catch on fire? I've never had this problem before and it's sort of freaking me out. Any advice, besides going to the mechanic. I know I'll probably have to, but if it's something simple I could fix then I want to know.

Answer 1

Relax, and calm down, your car just need a bit attention, and it will be fine.

From your description, it is hard to tell whether it is coolant, engine oil, exhaust leak, or electrical short. If it started after you turn off engine, it is coolant.

Smoke means something over heated. If ignored something will melt, or catch fire, so please take your Ford Taurus to your prefered mechanic, for proper root-causing, troubleshooting, and fixing.

It is safe to drive to your mechanic after

1) engine cool down,

2) you check radiator spill-tank and top up radiator fluid,

3) check dip stick and top up engine oil.

Regarding shaking a lot while parked, these are possibilities,

1) One or more engine cylinder isn't running smoothly, you could test this by pulling out ONLY one spark cable at a time, and listen whether the engine sounds better or worst or no-change.

2) One or more engine mount has expired, and engine shake is transferred to the body of the car.

Answer 2

If blackish smoke was coming from under the hood, it sounds like it was overheating. And badly at that.

If it was blue/white smoke from the engine, you have an oil leak. Yes it will cause a fire.

If it was white smoke from the engine, you have a coolant leak. This will lead to #1.

For future reference: Pouring cold water on steaming hot metal can cause stress cracks, or complete detonation of cast iron.

Answer 3

to start is a FORD(Taurus is even worst), thats your first problem.

And yes it can cought on fire.It sounds like your car is sckipping very bad.I guess is a 6 cylinder, I think is only working with 2.Thats the worst case senario.Other things cut be that the oil cap fall off.....Radiator cap.....

.....but you must not drive it anymore if you havent yet detected the problem yet.

Go with your mechanic...or maybe just abandon that car.

Sincerely: Gus

Answer 4

There can be many different problems cuz we are talking about a car that is almost a decade old.  I would estimate that it has over 100,000 miles on it and it probably smell a little from the exhaust when you start the car.  I would also guess that the air conditioner stopped working.  Many things start to happen when a car starts to get over the 100,000 mark.  This is especially true of cars built before 2002.  Cars now day are running a little longer.  

Check the water in the radiator (make sure it is cool, never open when hot). if the water keeps getting empty every time you fill it up their could be a leak or a whole in the radiator.

Check your oil level.  This is so important.  Make sure to have the oil changed every three months or 3,000 miles.   If your car leaks oil (you will see it on the ground every time you move the car from a parking space) then you might have a leak and a gasket might need to be replaced.

It seems to be one of these two things.  Not sure if what you saw was steam or smoke.  The smoke would be the oil and the steam would be the water.  

Hope this helps.  Good luck.  Let me know if you find out more info or if you have more info.

Answer 5

You mentioned at the end of your post that it jumps(as in shakes?). I hope you didn't pour water into the radiator while it was smoking. Sounds like either a blown head gasket or a cracked cylinder head. Very expensive repair and maybe not worth the expense on a near 10 year old Taurus. Check the engine oil(via the dipstick) to examine the condition of the oil, if it's murky and white/tan in color, you have(most likely) a blown head gasket. Does the car overheat on a regular basis? Your description isn't clear from where the smoke is coming from, the exhaust pipe? The engine compartment itself? Could be as simple as something loose or a bad seal somewhere and oil is spilling and burning as it comes into contact with the hot engine parts. I'd suggest getting it checked out by a mechanic, they won't charge you unless they work on it, but will tell you(more or less) what's the problem.

Answer 6

dang girl,i hope it's nothin too major.i'm having car troubles too. =[

it sucks

Answer 7

My Chevy Blazer shakes bad when the oil gets low.  Check the oil, check the radiator fluid.  Make sure all of that is okay before jumping into something more serious and expensive.  Call a friend who knows something about cars, buy some pizza, a six pack and let the guys look at it.  If all that fails, take it to a good mechanic.

Answer 8

your car is over heating because your radiator ether blow a hoes are your radiator is has a hole in it thy sale radiator licked plug ups at   auto zone part let it cool down put more water in it not a lot yowl blow your water pump.

Answer 9

have you had the oil changed each 3,000 miles? The shaking sounds like maybe an idle problem...you need a family friend who knows about cars first off---before you spend a ton of $$ on the service for something like a new oil filter and oil change and simple things that you can buy at Wal Mart or an auto center can cure.  GOOD LUCK!  there are online websites too you can type in trouble shooting...I will look...

Answer 10

That doesn't sound good to me. I had a car that caught on fire so make sure you have it checked out by someone that knows what they are doing....Good luck!!