If smoke, you may have a leak in a hose. When cool, check for water marks usually coming from the connection to the radiator. Another thing to do but may be dangerous is to load up the radiator with water and start the engine, let it run for about 15min for it to heat up and look for water spray. Also, when parked, is there a puddle of water under the car?
Also, I would check the water level in the radiator (never open when hot), to see if i need to add water. Don't look at the reservoir as a reference. It could be just low.
The key here is you think there may be smoke coming from the hood.
Another thing, if the radiator is full of water, then it could be your thermostat. it is usually located at the end of the top hose which runs from the radiator to the engine. In this picture, you are looking at the top of the engine looking down. This is the location of the Thermostat. If your vehicle is close to over heating, this valve could be getting stuck.
As a test, remove the thermostat and try driving it around to see if it gets close to overheating.
Was it smoke, or steam? Sometimes, especially if a vehicle overheats, it will blow a head gasket, or even crack a head. This leads to lots of other problems. But the signs are steam coming from the engine compartment.
Solution: First step; When the engine is cool, after it has been sitting for a while, say an hour or so, remove the coolant cap and fill the radiator, or overflow reservoir while the engine is running To ensure that the system is properly filled and properly functioning. When the engine warms up it will circulate the water that you are putting into the engine and fill the cooling system.
Continue to let the engine run until the vehicle's temperature starts to indicate that the engine is warming up. Continue to watch it for a few minutes to make sure that it doesn't overheat. If it starts to smoke or steam then the problem is larger than just being out of coolant. Cracked heads, and blown head gaskets are sometimes tedious and costly repairs.
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Temp was indicating just past normal toward the HOT side of the temp guage. Engine was not steaming at this time. Got home ok driving at higher speed with the heater turned on high. After letting the engine cool way down, the overflow tank was nearly full but the radiator was very low. No leaks were noticed. Removed the thermostat and tested it in near boiling water on a stove and it seemed to open ok. I plan to put in a new thermostat anyway and see what happens. Any other ideas?
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