Board 8 > Engine smoked (white/gray, probable coolant leak). Can I drive to a mechanic?

(+) Yeah! (+)

First time this has happened to me.

Can I drive this myself to a mechanic in the morning (like 1-5 miles), or will I need a mechanic to pick this up?
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If it's a coolant leak it's most likely not a big deal at all to drive with it.

If it's something else then idk.

When you say white/gray, do you mean steam? If its steam, you can drive it cold to straight to a shop.

If its actually smoke, dont drive it at all.
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Might have been steam, yeah, but it was at night. About to go to my truck now...if it wasn't steam, I imagine my truck will look a lot different today.
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A coolant leak can definitely produce "white smoke" and still not be dangerous. I just had this happen to me a couple months ago. Parked and noticed smoke coming from the hood. Googled it, saw that coolant leak was a probable cause, checked the coolant tank and saw it was empty. Looked at the radiator and it had liquid all over it.

It was just a liquid substance leaking out, landing on a hot surface, and burning. I mean, definitely don't just ignore it and keep driving for weeks. But if that's what's going on with your truck then I wouldn't worry about driving down the road to have it looked at.

Thank you for the advice guys.

I drove it to two shops without incident. Then at the second shop, they couldn't turn it on anymore, so they recommended I tow it it to an engine specialist in town.

Engine specialist pointed out three problems:

1) Thermostat and housing are in bad shape. I knew coolant was on it, but still...oof.
2) Intake manifold is in bad shape.
3) A rat's nest was inside chewing on cords and making things worse.

All this leads to a $1,200 bill. Eff.

Moral of the story: don't leave your vehicle running idle for long periods of time. I knew not to for summer months due to heat getting captured under the hood with no air passing through from driving, but I thought the rest of the year was fine to do that and it was my go-to spot for lunch at work. Not anymore! Turns out that's not good at all besides maybe a few minutes before you drive in the winter. Because of this, now other parts in my truck may be more brittle and susceptable to damage later. Oh well. =/
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