Smoke from under hood battery warning light on

[jeepguy4276]

06 limited 3.7. Driving home tonight I noticed white smoke from under the hood at a stop light. Figured it might be another car’s exhaust I didn’t think too much about it. Then my lights dimmed and my battery warning light came on. I quickly pulled into a parking lot. There was quite a bit more smoke from under the hood coming out. I let it sit about 10 minutes in the freezing cold and it started up no battery light. No smoke. I went to leave the parking lot and battery light came on and more smoke. I parked it and left it. I didn’t have a flashlight and my phone was low so I didn’t pop the hood. The fact that it was way below zero didn’t help. So I left it parked and I’ll go back tomorrow in daylight to check things out. So my question is, any thoughts on what it could be? I was thinking belt or alternator but the smoke throws me a little. Runs fine, no noises to speak of. Any thoughts before I go look at it in subzero temps tomorrow afternoon? Will a bad belt or alternator cause white smoke?

 

[65Corvair]

06 limited 3.7. Driving home tonight I noticed white smoke from under the hood at a stop light. Figured it might be another car’s exhaust I didn’t think too much about it. Then my lights dimmed and my battery warning light came on. I quickly pulled into a parking lot. There was quite a bit more smoke from under the hood coming out. I let it sit about 10 minutes in the freezing cold and it started up no battery light. No smoke. I went to leave the parking lot and battery light came on and more smoke. I parked it and left it. I didn’t have a flashlight and my phone was low so I didn’t pop the hood. The fact that it was way below zero didn’t help. So I left it parked and I’ll go back tomorrow in daylight to check things out. So my question is, any thoughts on what it could be? I was thinking belt or alternator but the smoke throws me a little. Runs fine, no noises to speak of. Any thoughts before I go look at it in subzero temps tomorrow afternoon? Will a bad belt or alternator cause white smoke?

My brother had a similar issue with his 2008 Grand Cherokee. The alternator died.

 

[Johnny O]

06 limited 3.7. Driving home tonight I noticed white smoke from under the hood at a stop light. Figured it might be another car’s exhaust I didn’t think too much about it. Then my lights dimmed and my battery warning light came on. I quickly pulled into a parking lot. There was quite a bit more smoke from under the hood coming out. I let it sit about 10 minutes in the freezing cold and it started up no battery light. No smoke. I went to leave the parking lot and battery light came on and more smoke. I parked it and left it. I didn’t have a flashlight and my phone was low so I didn’t pop the hood. The fact that it was way below zero didn’t help. So I left it parked and I’ll go back tomorrow in daylight to check things out. So my question is, any thoughts on what it could be? I was thinking belt or alternator but the smoke throws me a little. Runs fine, no noises to speak of. Any thoughts before I go look at it in subzero temps tomorrow afternoon? Will a bad belt or alternator cause white smoke?

Sounds like your alternator died, however you need to really get under the hood and troubleshoot in daylight.

White smoke is usually electrical. Use your nose (with battery disconnected) and do some sniffing.
Burned electrical lease a very distinctive odor that you can almost taste.

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[MarksmanAkula]

sounds like you burned up your alternator. I've done the same on my pickup truck. Smelled like h-ell, lights dimmed and battery light came on the dash.

 

[jeepguy4276]

If it is the alternator, should I go with 136 amp or 160. It’s a stock limited. Has driving lights but no additional lighting or accessories.

 

[Johnny O]

If it is the alternator, should I go with 136 amp or 160. It’s a stock limited. Has driving lights but no additional lighting or accessories.

Alway go stock. If you do need more power later, upgrade the battery. In most applications there is never a need for a heavier alternator. I’m a power hog and run a stock style alternator. No trouble when the bass hits or running the centrifuge once I put in the ******** battery suggested here.

 

[jeepguy4276]

Looked under the hood. Too cold to do much more. There’s what I think is coolant all over everything. Belts top of engine, hoses, etc. the entire engine bay and a puddle under the front of the engine. Doesn’t appear to be any water/coolant in the oil. Can’t tell for sure it’s coolant but that’s what it looks like and the coolant reservoir is now empty. So, do I dare put some hoat in it and drive it the few miles home? Any quick thoughts what it might be to dump that much coolant? A water pump is usually a smaller slower leak I think same with thermostat. Tear in a hose? Blown radiator?

 

[Johnny O]

Looked under the hood. Too cold to do much more. There’s what I think is coolant all over everything. Belts top of engine, hoses, etc. the entire engine bay and a puddle under the front of the engine. Doesn’t appear to be any water/coolant in the oil. Can’t tell for sure it’s coolant but that’s what it looks like and the coolant reservoir is now empty. So, do I dare put some hoat in it and drive it the few miles home? Any quick thoughts what it might be to dump that much coolant? A water pump is usually a smaller slower leak I think same with thermostat. Tear in a hose? Blown radiator?

Well the good news is you found the cause (coolant can be white smoke too). You goanna need some hoat in there to start it up and find your leak and the damage it caused.

 

[jeepguy4276]

I should add that it still runs fine, no real noises like knocking or ticking, no difficulty starting. It didn’t over heat at all (according to the temp gauge). If it blew a head gasket bad enough, wouldn’t it run poorly? I can’t imagine there’s anything that major wrong or that there’s any damage. I’m not sure if I can find the leak unless I fill it with hoat and let it get to operating temp. So hopefully that won’t hurt anything.

 

[LibertyTC]

Fill Hoat to cold line, start it up, look closely for source of leak. Otherwise pressure test it.
When you start it, is battery light on? Do you have a Vom meter to check voltage while it's running?
If it did not overheat, it is probably not a head gasket issue. You can check oil at dipstick, any bubbles/milky substance, I doubt its that.
Coolant from the front? look for hose leaks/ water pump issues?

 

[jeepguy4276]

Fill Hoat to cold line, start it up, look closely for source of leak. Otherwise pressure test it.
When you start it, is battery light on? Do you have a Vom meter to check voltage while it's running?
If it did not overheat, it is probably not a head gasket issue. You can check oil at dipstick, any bubbles/milky substance, I doubt its that.
Coolant from the front? look for hose leaks/ water pump issues?

The battery light is not on when you start it. It came on about 2-3 minutes later. I can test for voltage if I can’t see the leak. Going to try today. I don’t have a pressure tester. No bubbles or milky fluid on the dipstick. Coolant is at the front. I’ll check the hoses and water pump first.

 

[LibertyTC]

Good luck finding leak get it hot and post voltage before & after when battery light comes on.
A pressure tester can be rented from one of your local parts stores.
If you need a new alternator, I'd be tempted to go to a scrap yard and try to find a 136 Amp OEM Denso.
The Denso lasts so long, and a good saving could be found there.
The part number's are on the photo. Dodge products shared these alternators as well.

 

[jeepguy4276]

So I looked at it today. Filled the reservoir with coolant. As soon as I added and looked under it was a steady drip. I didn’t even start it. It’s not a hose or the radiator. It leaks from the front down to the front of the oil pan in the front center of the engine. To me, it must be the water pump. The battery light came on because the belt got so soaked in fluid it was probably slipping. I guess I’ll need to pull everything apart to make sure, but I need to do that to replace the pump if it’s that anyway. Hoses look good thermostat housing does as well. Coming from front of engine so not the radiator. It must be the water pump. Anyone think I’m missing anything? Does my thought process make sense?

 

[tommudd]

Sounds like water pump
Id replace the thermostat as well since you are down that far ( MOPAR of course )
Also replace the belt since it has been soaked
HOAT coolant of course , can not be said enough

 

[LibertyTC]

X2 ^
This video shows water pump removal etc.

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Mopar hoat or Zerex G-05 from wallmart, same thing.
Might be a good time to change the hoses as well, Mopar Hoses fit excellent.
Images of Thermostat below.

 

[jeepguy4276]

Mine appears to have a flex and clutch fan rather than electric, could this be correct or has something been changed? So I’m assuming I’ll need to remove the cover over the fan to get that off as well. Will an 06 and 02 use the same hoses belt and thermostat? I have new ones from my old 02 that I sold last summer.

 

[LibertyTC]

Heavy duty cooling should consist of an electric fan & correct mechanical fan/ shroud. https://www.jeepkj.com/threads/hd-cooling-setup.53731/
Yes hoses, thermostat should be mopar.
As far as the belt goes, it could also be mopar, but on your current belt there should be a part number on it for correct replacement.
All of these belts should be EPDM quality and last a very long time 100K. Gates belt EPDM is K060863

 

[jeepguy4276]

So no flex fan? Hmm I’ll have to look again but that’s sure what it looked like.

 

[jeepguy4276]

Heavy duty cooling should consist of an electric fan & correct mechanical fan/ shroud. https://www.jeepkj.com/threads/hd-cooling-setup.53731/
Yes hoses, thermostat should be mopar.
As far as the belt goes, it could also be mopar, but on your current belt there should be a part number on it for correct replacement.
All of these belts should be EPDM quality and last a very long time 100K. Gates belt EPDM is K060863

Ok. I reread your post and the link and another link on it. I think I now understand. I should have the heavy duty cooling. That makes sense. Now I understand. Thanks for the help. I may need more when I get to replacing things. I’ve done the water pump on the ‘02 without the mechanical fan assembly. This sounds like a lot more difficult job due to the space. Then I’ll need to figure out how to get the fan assembly off the water pump. Oh I’m looking forward to this.

 

[LibertyTC]

Can you post some photos of your cooling fan/s?
All of the KJ came standard with an electrical fan set up.
The heavy duty cooling added the viscous fan clutch/ new shroud as an option, if you were towing or in very hot climates.
See # 7 cooling section in the 2006 factory service manual here in pdf. http://www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/2006-KJ-SM.pdf