Hey everyone. I recently took my 2011 5.0L F-150 on a 1,000 mile round trip threw the mountains of New Mexico and back home. Upon arriving home the truck was pretty dirty so I decided to run it through the car wash real quick. This particular car wash was one of those without brushes, were it just sprays water and soap on the car the rinses it clean and blow drys it as you drive out.

I noticed that after a few seconds of water spraying on my hood there was the low rolling steam comming right out of the front grill. I quickly checked all my gauges and they showed that nothing was overheating or anything like that, but I still was worried. So when the wash was over I pulled into the parking lot and popped the hood. I also noticed that steam continued for a few seconds as rolled threw the parking lot, it however stopped before I was able to get out and open the hood so I was unable to locate its source. Upon opening the hood I found nothing that looked outta place or anything like that, abiet the engine itself was a little dusty, but that was all. Has anyone had anything like this happen with their trucks? Could it just have been water touching the cold manifold or something? Overall the truck hasn't been driving any differently, so that eases my mind a little. But I can't help but still be a little concerned.

This is cause for a little bit of concern for me, as I have never had this happen with either of the two Trucks I owned before this one. For the record my truck now has 7,000 miles on the dot on it.

Here's a Video clip of an Ecoboost F-150 ''Not My Truck'' doing the excat same thing that mine did.
2011 Ford F150 EcoBoost Looks Like Its On Fire - YouTube

Thanks for any help.
Nate.

 

Many touchless car washes also spray the undercarriage, so it was probably where the bottom spray hit the hot radiator and exhaust.

 

mine steams pretty good just from driving through rain. havent noticed any problems

 

If you notice there is not much between the road/car wash and the engine area. Great for air circulation but not so much for water or spray. Just think of how much road salt water gets up there. Maybe it's a good thing that the car wash gives the engine a bath also (intended or not). Chris

 

A lot of the steam depends on how hot your radiator is. On a cool day or with a cool vehicle, the radiator will be almost cold. If the truck has been run for a while, especially on a warmer day, the radiator will make a LOT of steam. So will exhaust manifolds, hot engine blocks, catalytic converters, etc. So if your truck was real hot after a long trip, then you maybe sat in a car wash line to get the radiator cooking a lot, I'm betting it just got real hot.

In Michigan winters, with a wet/snowy hood, I can tell when the thermostat opens while I'm driving--I will get steam out of the front end all of a sudden because the radiator got wet and once it heats up, will cook off the water.

I would not worry unless your coolant level goes down; keep an eye on the level in the overflow bottle. And if the steam smells of antifreeze, you obviously have reason to worry.

George

 

Mine does this when the defroster is on on a rainy day. I think the condenser on the grill is the culprit. Not a good feeling when you stop at a light and see steam from the front and now warning lights or pegged gauges. Dealer will get that one next.

 

Thanks for all the anwsers everyone, It sounds like it is nothing, so as long as the truck keeps running the same I guess I just won't worry about it.

 

I have seen my 2011 V8 do this on damp and dry days and I don't like it. My first thought, is my truck overheating!?

 

hey yall are all good dad has a 2011 ecoboost xlt 4x4 and each time i hand wash it i spray the bugs and debris out of the raditor and intercooler and then ill crank it up and idle and it will steam alittle bit until the fans kick on i belive these electric fans shut of when they become too wet and wont kick on until temp rises alittle or until it dries no worries though these are normal grandmas 207 chrysler town and country did the same thing too

 

Another possible source is the rotors on the brakes. I notice it when I spray the wheels down when hand washing. Those rotors are hot.

 

I've owned the truck for about 10 months now and it does this pretty much anytime I take it threw one of those ''touchless'' car washes which the only kind of car wash I'll take threw if I don't feel like hand washing it.

Either way I've noticed that it does this pretty much everytime and it hasn't shown an issues so far so I stopped worrying about it awhile ago. I've read on other forms that this is actually a pretty common thing for these newer Fords and is no reason to cause concern.

 

hand washed mine yesterday and later while idling in a drive thru saw the steam...checked my gauges..all normal. I assumed that it was just water burning off of something that's not supposed to be wet. Glad I am not the only one!

 

The front wheel wells on these trucks, don't have inner wheel well liners, that cover as much as older trucks used to have. Water from rain, car wash, etc. can get to the engine and exhaust in these areas pretty easily, creating steam on contact with the hot surfaces.

 

This sounds like you got a cold radiator wet, then drove the truck a short way to the drive thru, which did not yet warm the engine enough that the thermostat opened. Then, the thermostat opened while in the drive thru and cooked the water out of the radiator as steam. Nothing to worry about. This happens to me all the time in the winter, with snow melting and the resulting water dripping off the hood into the radiator, and once the radiator comes into play, it cooks off as steam.

I had a long freeway drive in the rain today in my E150, and getting off the exit, splashed thru a deep puddle. When I stopped at the light at the top, I got a huge cloud of steam, probably cooking off the hot exhaust system, engine, and transmission. Maybe even off the front brakes.

When your vehicle has been around water, steam is of no concern unless the coolant level is going down and the steam smells like antifreeze (that sick, sweet smell that I have also experienced too many times when a radiator hose or heater hose has exploded...or once I had a pressed in nipple blow out of a newly remanufactured water pump when the engine got hot).

George