JamesY

So drove in the rain all night for about an hour, a block away from my home I stop at a stop sign and when I accelerated, I saw a lot of what appeared to be white smoke from my tailpipe. When I finally pulled into my driveway, I saw either smoke or steam exiting the grills up front. It was hard to tell because it was nighttime and raining. Stuck my nose to the grill and it smells like one of those plastic bags that get stuck underneath your car burning. Checked he engine and everything looked fine, fluids, etc. I kept the car shutdown over night.

Today I checked, no smell, fluids are fine, but I have a long daily commute and I since I bring my son with me, I'm a bit concerned. Was it just a fluke, the rain or should I immediately bring it to the dealer tomorrow morning?

MJ50

it might've been just combination of cold weather and rain...
since it didn't happen again the following day, i assume it's ok...

JamesY

I hope so. Just warmed up the car and no smell or smoke. I mean, if this is gonna happen all the time during inclement weather, it's a bit ridiculous.

JamesY

By the way, I did have the defogger and heat on if that matters.

Funkwagen

I don't have much help to offer, but I will say that the steam rising from the grill is pretty normal for me after driving through heavy rain. The engine bay gets pretty warm, and it seems any water that gets in the radiator fins evaporates or turns to steam

JamesY

Thanks for the info. Any smell of plastic burning?

Funkwagen

No distinct smell of plastic, no. The engine bays do smell "hot" though after running for a while, I guess you could say it sort of smells a bit like plastic and metal, but it's not very strong or noticeable unless you lift the hood and stick your face into the engine basically. It might actually be possible that something plastic (like a bag) got stuck to the underside of the vehicle, the exhaust system seems to get quite hot in these cars, I can feel the heat rising on summer days from under the car. Plastic panels cover most of the underside, but the exhaust is exposed.