2011 Patriot has steam (or smoke?) coming from radiator
 

Hi all,

Got a 2011 Jeep Patriot 5 days ago. I noticed it on the second night I had it, but left it alone as I thought it was just some oil being burned off from it being a new car.

But yesterday, after driving it for about 30-45 minutes in the Canadian winter, I finally started getting warm and turned the thermostat down to about 1-2 o'clock. Couple of minutes later, stopped at a long light and saw steam coming out from the condenser in the front, in between the center and the passenger's side. It was a decent amount of steam. It looked like a kettle was sitting on my bumper, but the engine temperature gauge was fine.

I got to work very shortly after, put the car in park and popped the hood to look at it. It honestly seemed to coming out of the condenser, just kind of coming out of the grill. I don't know if maybe there is a leak underneath it or anything, but the steam had no smell. I looked underneath the car and under the hood and could not see any liquid or remnants of any liquid being burned off. This morning the coolant level is still where it was. I saw it a couple of times since, it happened twice while idling and once while I was driving down a very steep hill after idling for a bit.

I called the dealership and asked them if this was normal, and the guy who answered said, "that's not a typical issue. You should bring it in." So I did, and mechanic there told me it's normal and that his wife's Jeep does it all of the time, especially on rainy or foggy days, but they're going to take a look at it anyway, but he's certain "it's nothing".

I've talked to a couple of mechanic friends who don't know what it is. I'm a little worried this guy is telling me it's nothing, when it actually is, and because it's an intermittent problem, I'm worried they're really not going to catch it. Has anyone experienced this? Is this common, maybe for Jeeps?

If it is common, I'm sorry for the probably redundant post.

Thanks in advance,


Matt

Re: 2011 Patriot has steam (or smoke?) coming from radiator
 

Hiya Matt,
Congrat's on the new ride. I've had the same "steam" issue on a couple of vehicles (1984 AMC Eagle and 1994 Cherokee). Im my case nothing to worry about but get it checked out or at least recorded on the dealer's records in case of future problems. Yup, just happened on snowy/foggy days. Oh, and welcome to the site and ask all the questions you want. I think we're all pretty friendly here.
Peter.

Re: 2011 Patriot has steam (or smoke?) coming from radiator
 

Thanks Peter,

Yeah, I've spent all night looking this up and a lot of people seem to have experienced it. It seems fairly typical and in relation to the electric fan not spinning while the motor's idling. I'm not sure why I've never heard of this happening until now, why some mechanics I talked to (other than the Jeep mechanic), or even the first guy I talked to at Jeep haven't heard of it. Maybe it should be better publicized or something, I'm not sure.

Anyways, it's at the dealership now, hopefully they'll deal with any issue it has.

Thanks for your response.

Re: 2011 Patriot has steam (or smoke?) coming from radiator
 

Hi Matt,

Had the same problem with my 04 GC, mine turned out to be some snow would get under the lip of the hood and you would see the steam from it melting. Spent a long time looking for a leak first though. Makes your heart jump when your sitting in traffic when it happens and your wondering if your rad is about to pack it in though...

Re: 2011 Patriot has steam (or smoke?) coming from radiator
 

Haha, yeah, I was in a near panic, the truck has about 250 km on it. I kept thinking about how I bought my new jeep because every vehicle I had before was a beater hand me down, and I wanted something that would last a year... I don't know what was funnier, the look on my face or the old lady beside me.

Anyways, picked her up from the dealersip today, they said it was just the electric fan, they did leak tests and what-not just to be sure and all is well.

Thanks again guys