Smoke from engine compartment

A car that keeps overheating should not be driven.

Light blue smoke is burning engine oil. This is probably a sign that overheating has damaged the engine.

Water pump can leak coolant, make a noise and even wreck the engine under some circumstances but they have little to do with engine oil. If the water pump leaks it is an external leak.

If there are no external coolant leaks then yes it could be the head gasket or perhaps a crack somewhere...

Leaks are most common at hose connections, within the heater core, the radiator, or at the water pump. The water pump has a drain hole under the shaft that allows water to leak out when the bearing is getting bad. This is supposed to tell you to replace the pump. Unfortunately, many drivers fail to regularly inspect the engine compartment, and even when they do, often the coolant evaporated on the engine block leaving little or no residue to allow for detection. Seepage at hose connections can have the same results. The heater core leaking often runs out the firewall with the condensate from the A/C unit, so it is often missed. If you have no milky oil, then the head gasket isn't blown into the oil gallery. But you can have a head gasket blow directly into the cylinder(s) themselves. This will cause a white smoke from the tailpipe when running. Do not confuse this with the white smoke that comes with a early morning startup. This smoke is due to moisture that builds up in the muffler and is normal, but will stop after a few minutes. If the engine produces white smoke during normal driving under acceleration, then have it checked. You may be able to detect a slight smell of antifreeze from the tailpipe in this condition.

first check the coolant temperature of your engine,if is high the it is a coolant leakage. Stop the car let it cool down and then open the bonnet and check for the cause or the part that it is leaking.If it is not water coolant ,then check whether is oil leak and be careful when is hot to do not open immediately the bonnet as there is also a risk for catch fire. even using the car with the oil leak as well. Any of the two faults you should contact an expert garage and arrange for the necessary repair.

Valve seal leaks will cause an engine to smoke on start until the oil burns off. If a head gasket were leaking it would be smoking constantly.

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White smoke is usually coolant, oil is usually a blue color, most turbos r cooled by coolant so U may have a coolant leak in the turbo, may B a seal or crack in the turbo. Check your coolant level occasionally to C if it drops.

what does this smoke smell like? oil? coolant?, if it smells like coolant then u have a leaking head gasket, not all head gasket leaks cause overheating, so the fact the engine is not overheating doesn't mean you don't have a head gasket leak.

Depends on how much smoke. A little puff that goes away quickly is no cause for concern the flat six engine does get oil deposits under the piston skirt when parked and is considered normal.

Excessive smoke (fogging for mosquites) indicates a failed oil \ air separator. Confirm by removing the oil fill cap with the engine running - if the vacuum tries to **** your hand into the oil tube, your separator is a goner.

Not excessively difficult to replace yourself. The part is about $300 and you can replace it in a couple of hours, it is located at the rear of the engine, passenger side, top.

well the question is where did the coolant go. if it didnt leak out it must have went out the pipe. As you stated, white smoke, white smoke is coolant. You definately need to get this to the shop. You cannot drive it this way or further damage will occur.

White smoke from exhaust indicates burning coolant. Blue smoke from the exhaust indicates burning oil. In replacing the valve cover gasket for an oil leak, some smoke from residual oil is normal but it would be excess oil burning off on the manifold from the engine compartment, not the exhaust. Hope this helps with your question.
Greg

Well for starters, that oil has to be going somewhere, obviously.  So most likely it is the piston rings, these wear out over time regardless of how well taken care of your car is.  Check the exhaust out while the car is running, if there is a white-blueish smoke, thats piston rings.  if it is more grey-ish, thats most likely a head gasket, in which case check the coolant overflow for color, and remove the oil filler cap and look on the inside, if you see a nasty looking white film, thats caused by water/coolant in the oil, most likely leaking through a bad head gasket.  Or it may be leaking out somewhere, if there are no puddles it may be leaking near a hot exhaust pipe/manifold and burning off.  
As long as you keep enough oil in it, it should be fine for a few years, just get it fixed eventually.  in the mean time you can also use oil additives to help string things along, ask the rep at your local auto parts store.  hope this helps!