Last night I stopped and filed up my car with diesel.
I drove home from the petrol station (5mins) and pulled up at my house to open the garage door.
Smoke was coming out from the front of the car and I could see it in front of the headlight.
It definitely wasn't diesel smoke it was some other smoke and smelled different.
I quickly turned of the car for fear of a fire.
Any ideas?
Could it be the alternator on the way out?

difficult to diagnose something like this...could it have been water on the exhaust or a shredded belt? ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

Could it have been the FBH letting off steam... (thinking about it I talked myself out of that cos they are temp related and I doubt it would have cold enough to trigger)

Sorry Ash
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2016 SDV8 AB

It is possible it's something not serious, like a carrier bag stuck to the exhaust. - if you feel able, you could look with a good torch, underneath in off-road height, just peering under on your side. And when completely cold, maybe feel around the manifolds, for melted remains etc.....
-or...Does/did it smell of hot oil?

My ac compressor clutch have off a fair amount of smoke when it went a few weeks back. But as said it could have been almost anything so best to take a look and use your nose to try to smell burnt electrics / plastic etc.

Is it not the depths of winter down under this time of the year? Does anyone know what temp it is? As would rule out FBH

Could be the fbh, wasn't that warm in Sydney today.... Certainly cold enough for it to run. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
Fiat 500x 1.4 multiair Lounge 2015
2010 LR D4 Commercial 2.7 TDV6

As tractor engines are notoriously smokey nearly all the time its most likely that the wind was blowing the wrong way.

Take a look at your exhaust manifold and directly above it, most likely you have a slight oil leak.
Clean white rag test works well, run it along the underside of rocker cover where the gasket is.

The BMW V8 is a shocker for drips hitting the manifold.

Did you notice a strong oil burning smell?

Well he said he filled up with desiesel so I'd go with the Fuel burning heater , it's certainly cold enough right now even here .
I have probably the only petrol FBH in Australia and even mie has kicked in automatically to assist cabin heating once or twice . 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

FBH

i thought FBH, but OP says it didnt smell like diesel ? ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

I started it this morning and no smoke.
Looked under the bonnet and nothing strange.
No oil leaks.
Drove it to the city and back with no issues.
No warnings on the dash or anything weird happening.
No more smoke.

More than likely it was the FBH. When the FBH runs, the smell is more like burning 'paraffin' rather than the diesel exhaust smell you get from running the engine.

I've had people getting alarmed at petrol stations when, during winter if it's cold, after filling up with fuel and starting the FF, the FBH kicks in and sends a cloud of smoke out from under the passenger wheel arch. It can be funny to watch sometimes, as they think your car is about to go up in flames...only we FF Doozel owners know better!!

I think you're right Discotigger and as others have said.
FBH.
It didn't smell like diesel or electrical but paraffin sounds close.
What is the purpose of the Fuel Burning Heater?
I do know of a story of a guy who had a FFRR go up in flames a few years ago.
So yes was very paranoid!!!! 😳

FBH has three functions really.

First is to help the engine warm up quicker by warming the coolant, as diesels take longer to reach optimum temperature than a petrol engine. Which is why they have the FBH as standard. Engines aren't efficient until they get up to temperature, so getting it up to temp quicker makes them use less fuel over all.

Second is linked to the first. If the engine isn't warm then neither is the cabin heater, so warming the coolant with the FBH warms the cabin up more quickly.

Thirdly it can be configured as a parking heater, either on a timer or a remote. So it'll warm up the cabin in advance of you getting in.