White Smoke Coming From Hood of Car But Not Overheating

I am willing to bet that if you check your antifreeze/coolant reservoir that it is overfilled and there is some of the fluid passing through the overflow neck and out onto the exhaust manifold. That’s the first place I would check.

You see, what you are seeing/experiencing is simple steam. Sure, it does mean there could be a pinhole leak somewhere that is letting go with enough regularity that it creates the steam cloud you describe.

It might also mean that another fluid is leaking and escaping either through an overflow or pinhole. The fluid I am thinking about is brake fluid. I know it is a rather rare occurrence, but when the fluid hits the hot exhaust, it creates clouds of white, billowing smoke.

But, I don’t think it is the case for your car. The reason is the number of times you imply that it happened.

One way you can tell what it smoking is start the car, and, while having a friend hit the accelerator, bring the engine up to a high rev and hold it there. Then, when the smoke and clouds appear take a sniff of the cloud. If it smells sharply with maybe a hint of oil, I would look at the antifreeze/coolant and its overflows.