water vapor from grille

glcbn · April 25, 2014

I searched and didn't see anything resembling this, so maybe I'm the only one.

It's happened twice now. Once from snow, and today from rain. I'm assuming the snow/rain is getting in the fins of the rad, and when the fan kicks on,it's making water vapor which while not moving or at a stop light you can see it come out the front of the grille. Only on the right side. The first time it did it, I just got the mail and was driving up our lane and saw it coming out of the grille. I got out and looked into the grille while it was doing it. No kind of chemical smell, so I guess it's only water vapor. It just seems really weird if it's in fact a normal action.

Anyone else notice this?

jay15892 · April 26, 2014

Mine does that too. I wouldn't worry about it..

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glcbn · April 26, 2014

I kind of figured it was "normal".

glcbn · May 8, 2014

Well,it did it again this morning at a red light on a completely dry day. So it's not caused from what I thought.

Anyone know why it does this?

fondupot · May 8, 2014

Yea just steam from the radiator. Not a big deal. With the opening on the front of the trucks being so big its bound to happen.

My 2011 F150 did this as well.

glcbn · May 8, 2014

I doubt it's "steam" from the radiator. It's a closed system. It would for sure be a big deal if in fact the rad was puking anti freeze. The vapor has no smell of anti freeze. It didn't have any type of chemical smell.

I called my dealer and of course the service department hadn't heard of this until now. He did tell me he'd do some investigating. We'll see how far that goes.

fondupot · May 8, 2014

I doubt it's "steam" from the radiator. It's a closed system. It would for sure be a big deal if in fact the rad was puking anti freeze. The vapor has no smell of anti freeze. It didn't have any type of chemical smell.

I called my dealer and of course the service department hadn't heard of this until now. He did tell me he'd do some investigating. We'll see how far that goes.

Steam from water/rain hitting the hot radiator. Not actually from the radiator itself.

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glcbn · May 9, 2014

I would have believed that the two previous times as it was raining/snowing. Today was dry as a bone.

gtptyler · May 9, 2014

Only have seen it after rain or washing. My old 2006 rado did the same.

Keep an eye on your fluid levels over time, might be better then letting the dealer have your truck for days on end and not find anything

fondupot · May 9, 2014

I would have believed that the two previous times as it was raining/snowing. Today was dry as a bone.

Then that's a different story altogether. I've only seen it when driving in heavy rain

fishman27 · March 12, 2016

I doubt it's "steam" from the radiator. It's a closed system. It would for sure be a big deal if in fact the rad was puking anti freeze. The vapor has no smell of anti freeze. It didn't have any type of chemical smell.

I called my dealer and of course the service department hadn't heard of this until now. He did tell me he'd do some investigating. We'll see how far that goes.

Mine does the same. Did the Dealer come up with anything besides just moisture burning off?

glcbn · March 12, 2016

Mine does the same. Did the Dealer come up with anything besides just moisture burning off?

I never brought it up again. Figured I'd get the same run around. It is in fact just moisture on the hot rad. It always happens in wet weather.

I never had a vehicle before this do that type of thing. But a lot of members will mention they experience this. It is definitely a normal deal with the new trucks.