Steaming, blooming heck

Hi,
Drove my TD4S Auto about 2 miles to the supermarket this morning doing around 30mph in a built up area with no hold ups or other traffic and when I stopped to park there was smoke billowing out of the overflow pipe on the front right hand side. It only lasted a few seconds but has never happened before. Any ideas why? On the return journey home no problem, so was it a one off or is it a sign of something going wrong?
I had a brand new radiator fitted in January 2011 after a very large HGV truck reversed into me.
Any help or advice gratefully accepted
Dave

its your fbh not a over flow and it normal

rhodie said:

its your fbh not a over flow and it normal

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I agree - a 2 mile journey is not enough to get the engine up to normal working temp so the fbh would be working to shorten the warm-up period.

Just to make sure though - when you say 'front right hand side overflow' you do mean the corrugated exhaust pipe under the front bumper on the right if you are in front of the car looking at the engine.

Confusing because most most folks might say in front of the near-side (or left) front wheel.

Hi,
Yes it was the right hand side looking from front to back.
Now for the dumb question "What is fbh?"
Cheers

fuel burning heater it heats the water in you car to get it up to temp quicker

Well blow me down, I didn"t know that.
Thanks.
Does the fbh use much fuel and can it be disconnected?

you can remove the fuse under the bonnet but it only use a small amount
and only when it below 5°C so no point

It would indeed be pointless to disconnect it as on cold mornings it would take an age for the engine to warm up and you get warm air out the heater.

It only runs until the coolant has reached normal temp.

Even if it was running constantly it uses only about 300ml/hour.

As it only runs for on average 10min and only when its under 5degreesC it's only going to use around 50ml (that's about 10 tea-spoons worth) to get the engine and coolant up to temp. when you really need it.

I have the optional timer fitted on mine and use it quite a lot - but then I probably live nearer the North Pole than most folks (Aberdeenshire) Ha ha.

Cheers,

Singvogel.

i disconnected mine it seemed to be on most of the time last year yes i know it was cold so this year the slightest drop and it would be on maybe I have a fault thermostat that needs changing but my engin still warms up quick at least half the time my wifes petrol does anyway