Not a big thing I hope, not my car, didn't seem to cause any problems, but it's got my mind spinning this way and that.
Wednesday, I took my son's BMW 5(?)6 to get it washed, and took it for a ride, since it had been sitting for a few weeks. Now this is one of those super whizbang cars with more brains and go than me, turbocharged, six gear automatic tranny, and more electronic crap in it than I can sort out without a thick book, but I can steer it and make it go and stop. What I can't do is crawl around under the hood - can't tell much from just looking anyway - or get down and look under it without needing a hydraulic jack to get me back up off the ground.
After the bath, I took it for a ride out north for about fifteen miles and back to dry it off and give it a bit of a workout; it ran like it always does, smooth, fast, and quiet. On the way back home, I stopped a the drive-through pharmacy, and while sitting, waiting for the lady to do her stuff, the car started smoking; seemed to be coming from underneath and towards the rear right side. I was in that driveway next to the building and couldn't get out to look, so I just sat there and hoped it wouldn't grenade on me. After a minute or so, it stopped, then started up again a few seconds later. As I was pulling out, it stopped smoking completely, and didn't do it again on the way home. There were no alarms, warning lights, or anything to indicate a problem other than the smoke; it had a smell sort of like engine oil, but not as strong, definitely chemical in nature, though. It did not smell like coolant that I could tell, at least not like any I have ever smelled; there were no drips or spots in the driveway, and when I got home and parked it in their drive, I looked under it as best I could and saw no drips or spotting. I'm baffled.
They are home, off the road for a week or so, so I imagine they will get it sorted, but it is digging at my head. I have heard of automatic transmissions doing this, but never experienced it.
What do you folks think I ran into here?
Wednesday, I took my son's BMW 5(?)6 to get it washed, and took it for a ride, since it had been sitting for a few weeks. Now this is one of those super whizbang cars with more brains and go than me, turbocharged, six gear automatic tranny, and more electronic crap in it than I can sort out without a thick book, but I can steer it and make it go and stop. What I can't do is crawl around under the hood - can't tell much from just looking anyway - or get down and look under it without needing a hydraulic jack to get me back up off the ground.
After the bath, I took it for a ride out north for about fifteen miles and back to dry it off and give it a bit of a workout; it ran like it always does, smooth, fast, and quiet. On the way back home, I stopped a the drive-through pharmacy, and while sitting, waiting for the lady to do her stuff, the car started smoking; seemed to be coming from underneath and towards the rear right side. I was in that driveway next to the building and couldn't get out to look, so I just sat there and hoped it wouldn't grenade on me. After a minute or so, it stopped, then started up again a few seconds later. As I was pulling out, it stopped smoking completely, and didn't do it again on the way home. There were no alarms, warning lights, or anything to indicate a problem other than the smoke; it had a smell sort of like engine oil, but not as strong, definitely chemical in nature, though. It did not smell like coolant that I could tell, at least not like any I have ever smelled; there were no drips or spots in the driveway, and when I got home and parked it in their drive, I looked under it as best I could and saw no drips or spotting. I'm baffled.
They are home, off the road for a week or so, so I imagine they will get it sorted, but it is digging at my head. I have heard of automatic transmissions doing this, but never experienced it.
What do you folks think I ran into here?
We, my Bride of 42 years and I, have lived in Las Vegas since '03, and were lifetime Southern California brats, until we retired; she from San Diego, I from L. A., San Gabriel Valley, and the greater Mojave Desert region - Yucca Valley, Twentynine Palms, Barstow - and we settled in "The OC", Mission Viejo, specifically, in the late sixties, to follow our carreers; she worked for a large school district in a program for handicapped children, and I worked for a large power company, at several different jobs, but my favs were Lineman, Construction/Maintenance Electrician, and System Operations. We spent a few years in the northern Sierras after we retired, but the snow and ice of the winters there drove us to seek warmer environs, hence Las Vegas - definitely warmer, most of the time; we truly like it here.