water out my exhaust

[ocbaud]

ok, i have a question/possible problem.

after about 1 minute of running, the exhaust starts spitting out quite a bit of water, enough to leave a little puddle under the pipes.

after about 10 minutes it no longer emits water though.

its not coolant, or fuel, just dirty water(dirty from the carbon in the exhaust pipes)

i know some water is normal, but this just seems like its quite a bit more than the "normal"

like i said, i know its water, and not coolant or fuel. i dont have a head gasket leak or anything, its just water...

[bmartin9122]

It sounds like your engine is tuned properly and catalytic converters are working well. The result of burning hydrocarbons (aka - dead dinosaurs, gasoline) using oxygen extracted from the ambient air is nitrogen (and a lot of it), carbon dioxoide, heat, and water.

Of course, this assumes complete (0% wasted fuel) combustion without any contaminants in the fuel like sulfur. Internal combustion engines fall far short of this utopian ideal, but they are improving all the time.

As far as your truck is concerned, I wouldn't be a bit concerned about significant water escaping the tailpipe when you first start up the engine. Your exhaust system has not warmed up enough to keep the combustion water vaporized, and it is condensating inside the exhaust pipe until everything warms up sufficiently. This will be aggravated when the outside temp drops.

This is the primary reason modern exhaust systems are made from stainless steel, aluminized steel, etc. Corrosion from the inside is a big problem.

[ocbaud]

Originally Posted by bmartin9122

It sounds like your engine is tuned properly and catalytic converters are working well. The result of buring hydrocarbons (aka - dead dinosaurs, gasoline) using oxygen extracted from the ambient air is nitrogen (and a lot of it), carbon dioxoide, heat, and water.

Of course, this assumes complete (0% wasted fuel) combustion without any contaminants in the fuel like sulfur. Internal combustion engines fall far short of this utopian ideal, but they are improving all the time.

As far as your truck is concerned, I wouldn't be a bit concerned about significant water escaping the tailpipe when you first start up the engine. Your exhaust system has not warmed up enough to keep the combustion water vaporized, and it is condensating inside the exhaust pipe until everything warms up sufficiently. This will be aggravated when the outside temp drops.

This is the primary reason exhaust systems are made from stainless steel, aluminized steel, etc. Corrosion from the inside is a big problem.

i dont have any cats on it

i know water out the pipes is normal, but it just seems like a lot of it.

[bmartin9122]

Originally Posted by ocbaud

i dont have any cats on it

i know water out the pipes is normal, but it just seems like a lot of it.

The cats just help extract any remaining fuel vapors.

The increase in water at your truck's tailpipe is most likely due to the seasonal drop in ambient air temperature. No worries!

[1933 Gasser]

Originally Posted by bmartin9122

This is the primary reason modern exhaust systems are made from stainless steel, aluminized steel, etc. Corrosion from the inside is a big problem.

My mom's '74 Gremlin was never driven more than a few miles, to Church or the grocery store. When she got rid of it, the exhaust system was rusted off and it smoked horribly. It only had 14,000 miles on it. It never really got warmed up, and suffered the consequences.

[piecesparts]

Condensation is a miracle of nature. Add moisture laden air and then heat it up and then cool it again the water will collect and run out of your exhaust. Winter is coming---Dude.

[magnethead]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

Condensation is a miracle of nature. Add moisture laden air and then heat it up and then cool it again the water will collect and run out of your exhaust. Winter is coming---Dude.

Ditto that.

On cold mornings, sometimes i'll get a cloud out of both pipes (true duals with H pipe) aong with water. Just condensation is all it is.

[piecesparts]

If it continues on a warm day or there is evidence of steam out of your pipes, along with a sweet smell, then there would be concern about a leak.

[piecesparts]

I HATE winter. Ever since I used to have to push snow for a living. Frostie and his winter friends are not on my list of goodies.

[j hannah]

I live about 80 mi. east of you,near Henryetta. all my cars do the same thing. if it does it after a 30 min. warm up, I might get concerned. It's just our humid weather.Just be sure you warm it up good. Short trips wil rot your pipes and muffler out quick.

[powerdriver 1958]

its normal