Smokey front offside?
 

I was pootling along this morning in the V6 and when we stopped at some lights I noticed some steam/smoke from the offside front tyre area. From inside the car, it was difficult to determine whether it was steam or smoke but it wasn't loads.

I pulled over when safe expecting a red hot front offside alloy wheel and a sticky calliper but no, the alloy was fine. I couldn't see, hear or smell anything out of the ordinary. Even when I shoved my nose into the wheel arch there was a faint hot rubber smell but there would be, wouldn't there!

Maybe I just hallucinated it after being up all night doing the on-call! Is there anything over that side I could check? The temp was fine, can't see a leak anywhere??

Oh, and btw, I hope you are all keeping well and safe in these uncertain time +++

Oil leak? I can't remember whether you got the cam cover gaskets done but they're a prime candidate for smoke at the front end. If not, clean the lower edge of the cam cover and top of the exhaust manifolds with carb cleaner reasonably regularly until you can get the gaskets swapped.

It won't be power steering fluid as that's a V8-specific issue. The pipework is different on the 2.8.

Isn’t this typical of the gearbox rear output seal leaking onto the cat? Or doesn’t that happen in the V6?

Yeah equally possible its the gearbox, but the V6 tends to leak more from the engine than any of them do from the gearbox so that's the first thing I'd look at +++

I had the same thing recently, smoke from front left tyre area, after a short drive when stopped. In my case it turned out to be a bad steering rack leak. I hope its not that.

Thanks all, sorry for the late reply but I've been rushed off my feet! I'll be taking the car out again today so I'll keep an eye out. Maybe I did hallucinate it!

Be well everyone

Now all restaurants are Taco Bell :D

I get that reference :)

Haha! I loved that rubbish film. God knows how much they had to pay Nigel Hawthorne to be in that!

A somewhat appropriate reference in the current climate with all the toilet roll hoarders! +++