Today as I was slowly accelerating from a stop, I noticed a small cloud of white smoke rise from the front of my car. I pulled over, everything under the hood seemed fine, engine temp was fine, and the problem didn't recur. Anyone else have this experience?

 

hmm, i assume it isn't cold over there. otherwise i would say it was the exhaust from the car in front if the temps were cold. but, i suspect that is not the problem.

 

I take it the engine was up at operating tempuratures so this isn't routine condensation from a cold engine. Is it continuous or just that one time during acceleration?

Continuous white smoke is indicative of water or coolant getting into your combustion chambers. Usually by way of a failed gasket or a crack in your engine block or cylinderhead. Oil getting in will give you bluish/gray smoke and excess fuel will give you black smoke.

Keep an eye on your coolant level.

EDIT: Matt, sorry, I should have read your post more thoroughly. What I posted above is referencing smoke coming from the exhaust.

 

temps were nice yesterday, for a change, and i had just come off a long run on the fwy. it didn't recur today, but when i came to a stop after another long fwy run today, with my trip fe at 66mpg and ac off, my auto-stop didn't come on. weird.
i'll check the coolant again tonight.

 

I'd definately check your coolant level. My last car went through two radiators before I got tired of it and white smoke coming from under the hood were my first indicators of something wrong. If it's a little leak you could very well go a few days to almost a week with everything seemingly fine and then all of the sudden your temp gauge starts going to H and the check engine light goes off.

Edit: I never really fixed the second radiator, kept filling it with water almost every other day for 6 months while I saved for my hybrid. In warm weather you might not see any smoke at all til your engine light goes off. Check expansion tank, puddle on ground, our loud hissing sound under hood after a drive.

 

The last time I had white vapor come out the front of a car was when a chunk of some negligent fool's ancient truck fell off and took out my A/C condenser. The obvious symptom in that case was that the A/C didn't work anymore.