Saw a little bit of white smoke, smelled kind of like burning plastic

2004-acura-tl

I’ve owned this car for a few years, i know that it has a power steering fluid leak. It ended up sitting for a couple weeks so i replaced the battery, when i started the car i saw a little bit of white smoke that smelled kind of like burning plastic/oil, it wasn’t overheating, it has plenty of oil, and the smoke was coming from the the center-front, between the radiator and the engine, it looks like it was coming from sort of under the engine. Is it just that some fluids leaked on something while it was sitting and now it just needs to burn off for a couple minutes or is this a bigger problem? Thanks! It is a 2004 Acura TL.


Check all your fluid levels and if they look okay then go ahead and let it run long enough to burn the oil off. The only other thought I would have would be if a belt was slipping on a pulley or something. But usually you will notice a noise or squealing noise coming from that area which is between the radiator and the engine. So check that area out as well. Not a bad Idea to check the pulleys while your at it.

BELT TENSIONER & IDLER PULLEY


Inspect the belt tensioner and idler for smooth rotation and any binding or abnormal noise.
If the seal shows signs of oil leakage, replace the pulley.
Do not clean the tensioner or idler with cleaning solvents. Use a soft clean rag to wipe the tensioner or idler, being careful not to scratch component surfaces.