I have been driving my 2002 Honda Civic for about 6 years now. For the past 4 years its been all highway, driving 50+miles a day. I have just moved to a small town where its all town driving.
When I would get off the highway before, I would notice a burning type smell, but no smoke and no signs of overheating. Once I moved here where the winter has been significantly colder than what my car is used to, and I am doing all in town driving, I have noticed smoke coming from my engine, but my temperature gauge shows all is well. I have always done regular oil changes etc on the car. I will be making a long trip this summer back home and i am not sure if I should be worried about the car overheating. Should I try and find someone to investigate this problem further or is this just some engine gunk burning as the car gets hot? Thanks!
Might be time for a tweak of the bolts on the valve cover gaskets or new valve cover gaskets. The old eyes do not work so well over the interwebnet thing. A competent mechanic should be able to clue you in.
The smoke may be caused by engine oil or xmission fluid (esp if you have an automatic) or power steering fluid getting on some hot surface of the engine. As mentioned above, see if you can see anything like that happening. Burning smells can also be caused by the various belts slipping or fraying. The cause does need to be discovered. Once you know what it is, you and your mechanic can decide how serious it is.