[Steve2004]

The other day i washed my 09 special edition outback in the driveway and left it over night. In the morning when i started it a significant amout of smoke came out from under the hood. It smelled like something was burning but i could not find any evidence of anything that was burnt. I brought it to the dealer to have them look at it and they didn't find anything either. The car runs fine, all the fluids are fine end the CEL is not on. Has this ever happed to anybody? Does anybody have an idea what could have made this happen or where to take a closer look. I bought the car about 5 months ago from the dealer and got the extended warrentee. Its my 4th outback and i have never had anything like this happen to me.

 

[subiesailor]

Leaky valve cover gaskets? Though its a bit early for these to start leaking. Subaru's that have seen very good oil change cycles generally get to 150K before the valve cover gaskets start to leak. Cars that do not see proper oil change intervals can have leaky oil pumps and valve cover gaskets as soon as 90K

 

[WagesOfZin]

check your CV boots, maybe? if one splits it can possibly throw grease up onto the engine which will then smoke as it burns off.

 

[plain OM]

Did the smoke appear as soon as the engine started, or some time after.

I wonder if some water got in under the hood, perhaps collected on the engine block or around the radiator, or even in between the exhaust pipe and it's shields, and started steaming off.

How long did the smoking last?

 

[Steve2004]

Thanks for your replies. The smoke appeared immediately and the amount i would call it a big puff of smoke. I was thinking the same thing about steam but this smelled like something burning. Thats why i brought it to the shop and they found no evidence of anythingthat burnt.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

if it truly started immediately from a cold engine - seems like it would have to be electrical.