Smoke coming out of the dash vents on a 2004 Saturn Vue

Hello,

A friend has an intermittent problem with white "smoke" coming out of the
dash vents.

The vehicle is a 2004 Saturn Vue and has a V6 engine in it that has had the
100k timing belt service performed at around 115k. As I understand it,
there's no correlation to the service and when the problem started
occurring. Each time the problem has occurred the vehicle has been taken to
the dealer only for the owner to be told that they can't find anything wrong
with it. This has happened several times so far.

Upon searching for a possible solution, it was mentioned that it might be
cracked heater core. That might explain the intermittent nature of the
problem. However, I'm being told that the vehicle isn't losing any coolant
(Dexcool, I believe). Supposedly, the dealer pressure tested the cooling
system and found no problems with it.

Another strange symptom is that recently the low coolant light on the dash
comes on, yet the vehicle isn't low on coolant and the dealer says that the
vehicle is fine. I was also told that when this just happened the vehicle
ran rough.

Any thoughts as to what to look for or what the problem might be? This is
becoming very frustrating for the owner, who just wants to get the vehicle
fixed.

Thanks in advance to those who post a reply to the group.

Peter.