ok i have a 1994 dodge ram van b1500 5.2l v8 and you know how if you dont have enough antifreeze your car will overheat and start to smoke or steam from under the hood cool put more antifreeze in the van fixed the over heating problem just got a small leak. now on to the problem its cold in baltimore right now so when i drive my van if i drive it kinda fast 35 40 mph when i stop to park it can go 6 or 7 blocks when i park smoke or steam still comes from under the hood but it aint over heat the temperature guage be hardly off of the c does anybody have any idea what this is and it will steam or smoke for like 2 minutes then stop

 

You might try putting a new radiator cap on sounds like it not holding the pressure.

 

If you're only driving a few blocks the engine hasn't had enough time to fully heat up, so the gauge isn't going to be up all the way to normal temperature.

Since you do have a leak, the steam you're seeing is probably due to the coolant spraying on the exhaust manifold. Once it stops leaking the steam stops.

 

i will try the cap but it always had a small leak and this steam issue is new so will look up under there any other thing you think it could be

 

The radiator core/fins could've sprung a leak and the fan is whipping the coolant up into a mist and spraying it back onto the engine. Also, like helipilot said, a bad cap can be the problem. It might be allowing coolant to leak past it and down over the radiator resulting in the same reaction with the fan.

 

When the coolant waslow and you overheated the engine you may have raisedthe temperature high enough todamage one of your head gaskets. Thesesituationsare extremely difficultto diagnose over the computer, but that's certainly what it sounds like to me.

 

FYI ---

NEVER use any stop-leak radiator treament in your radiator! It will cause more damage rather than do the cooling system any good.

The stop-leak will plug the leak, however, it will plug up other things in the cooling system like the heater core in the vehicle dash, the thermostat, lines in and out of the engine block, gunk up the inside around the engine freeze plugs and the like.

The say and best way is to replace the radiator or have it re-cored.

 

alloro you was right i checked the cap aint see nuffin wrong wit it but i brought a new one and put it on any way. so i put more antifreeze in my van it does not over heat like normal but it is a leak cause i put the hood after i drove it around and i seen the freezr like spraying around a bit by the fan so do you what exactly is leaking or you was just giving an example but i thank you for all yourhelp and everybodys help or if any one knows where to look at let me know thanx

 

A common and well hidden leak spot is under the water pump. You can only see this from under the vehicle. There is a hole on the water pump right below the pump shaft. Look for signs of coolant tracks there.