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Light, white smoke from engine bay. Most probable cause?

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Old 09-21-2014, 05:08 PM
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Default Light, white smoke from engine bay. Most probable cause?

I successfully performed my first oil change (or it seems I did, otherwise there would be blue smoke as well?). I used Mobil 1 Advanced Full synthetic 5w-30 oil and a k&n hp-1004 filter. The amount of oil used was 4 quarts. All previous oil changes since I've had this car at 139+ thousand miles have used conventional oil. I haven't noticed any notable leaks under the car overnight, since I did the change 2 days ago.

After driving 30+ miles since performing the oil change, and driving 70 mph on the highway briefly, before lifting the hood/bonnet 2 days after the oil change, I noticed a little bit of white smoke, coming out from around the engine bay. It also smelled a little like burning rubber.

After searching on Google, it seems the most likely culprit is the coolant. At around 171 thousand miles, I had a full timing belt job done (i.e. replacement of water pump and other hard to reach components as well).

I'm not sure if the mechanic did a "coolant flush", since his hand writing is a bit hard to read: https://i.imgur.com/RZGo6WN.jpg

I didn't supply him with any parts, so I'm good for warranty for at least 1 year, which hasn't gone by yet.

Also when I performed the oil change, only less than 3 quarts of the old oil was drained. The last 4 conventional oil changes were performed by the same mechanic who did the timing belt job.
Two images of the drained old oil: https://i.imgur.com/jU671zy.jpg, https://i.imgur.com/UdQihUc.jpg,
No drain pan was used. Only a little amount of oil was in the old "Prime Guard", model POF4460, oil filter.

An unconventional crush washer was used by the mechanic as well: https://i.imgur.com/TgBYSwM.jpg , https://i.imgur.com/JWd7sdy.jpg . I had to forcibly remove it.

Before performing the oil change I had to drive to the local Honda dealership to get 14mm crush washers. So the engine was indeed warmed up prior to draining the oil.

I wanted to get some input from fellow forum members before taking the car to the mechanic tomorrow (if he isn't fully booked for other customers), and see what he had to say.

Also when the timing belt job was done, the mechanic coincidentally discovered that the water pump was leaking. I've never seen the thermostat meter (left of the RPM meter/tachometer) on the interior dashboard surpass the 2/3rds level, since owning this car at 139+ thousand miles.
Old 09-21-2014, 05:25 PM
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Default Re: Light, white smoke from engine bay. Most probable cause?

could just be a small coolant leak starting, evaporating coolant isn't the best smell but it's very "sweet". Or a small oil leak starting just look around the bay with a good light, most likely nothing big. or a hose is touching something it shouldn't check for that too.
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