luxury1

After driving for an hour or so in the rain (36 degrees) I noticed a pretty significant amount of steam coming from the front grill while I was sitting at a traffic light. This was the second time I noticed this sort of thing but prior to these instances I never noticed this before (bought the car in 2004).

The car ran fine but I don't know whether or not I should be concerned.

I did a quick search on this but didn't see anything listed.

Thanks for the help!

iKon_RX

hot air escaping from the grill area n cold outside air mixing causes steam. you mention rain, water just got rammed into you bay to cause steam, very simple. Do not be concerned, now unless your oil/water temp is HOT/ could be leaking coolant cause by bad hoses/clamps. if coolant is spraying everywhere that will cause a great amount of steam.

Did you open your hood to see if anything is leaking or a burning smell?

luxury1

Thanks for the reply! I did open the hood and didn't see any spraying and it smelled OK to me. This is kind of what I expected but just wanted to see if I was on point.

Thanks again!

Lil4X

Just a guess here, but at near freezing temperatures your radiator fan is probably not cycling on, especially when you are driving, forcing cold, wet, ram air over the radiator. When you stop, that warmed, damp air escapes, and with the fan off, it exits the nearest open space - in this case the grille, rather than being pulled back into the engine bay by the fan and given an opportunity to condense on cool surfaces like the firewall and fender wells.

This would explain the steam you are seeing. If your cooling system is filled and your temp gauge is not excessively high, I wouldn't worry about it. If you can do it safely, say in a parking lot, get out and sniff the steam - if it has a strong odor of anti-freeze, you may want to investigate further. If it just smells like "eau de engine", relax - you don't have a problem AND you've just cleared your sinuses.

The G Man

We have a RX350 in the Northeast, no steam what so ever, raining or not. I would have it check out.

luxury1

Over the past four years I haven't noticed this which is why I thought I would ask around to see if anyone else was familiar with this scenario. Although the answers make sense.

fud

my car did the same thing in CA only when its COLD and I noticed on a hot day, going through a bubble car wash after the machine sprays directly to the front grill. no biggy!