White smoke after braking hard
 

Kind of a weird problem here. I have a 1994 LT1, I was just driving on the street today and the guy in front of me braked hard in a sudden. Out of panic I braked hard too, it seemed fine at first, but after driving the car for around 5 minutes I started to hear some whirring noise. Popped the hood open to get a check up, then I saw a puff of white smoke coming out from the engine bay near the dipstick. Anyone know what could be the cause of it? The smoke smelled sweet which could indicate coolant smoke, but what could cause a coolant leak after braking hard? Thanks guys!

Sometimes coincidences happen. When they do, they tend to lead us off on tangents unnecessarily. I wouldn't try to tie the two occurrences together just yet.... they could be a cause/effect thing, but they could just as easily be unrelated.
First things first: find the coolant leak.

Yup, don't confuse association with causation :cheers:

Go with what you smelled... you could have a coolant leak that got splashed around a hot engine bay from the braking... then just happened to drip down to something hot. Need to do a full inspection for any coolant residue all around the block, hoses, and connections.

does the engine have those factory intake heater core hose connectors? the kind that are known for leaking issues?possibly you have a small drip that makes coolant pool up and the hard braking forced it out fast on the hot intake? probably wouldn't cause a whirling noise though regardless

Found the issue, its power steering fluid spillage that created smoke from when in contact with hot engine parts. Apparently power steering reservoir cap is not fully sealed to accommodate pressure build in. Whirring noise is caused by lack of steering fluid. Felt so silly I overthought the situation! Refilled fluid and I am good now, thanks anyway guys!

This is why you always start with the basics before tearing into things.

Glad you solved your problem. :rock:

Can’t say I haven’t been guilty of that. Glad you found the issue. I’m checking my cap now

Good to know, a car at this age, minor things that you never thought of can be prone to break:D