Is this normal?

[kostnkost]

I noticed a little puddle of water on my driveway after driving for a few minutes. I figured it was from the exhaust pipe and didn't think twice about it until I saw it again today after driving a few minutes again. What has me concerned is that it is not from the tail pipe, but a foot and a half back from the tail pipe. I circled the image from where the water was coming out of.

Is this normal for water to be coming out of this section of the exhaust? It only occurs on the right side and not the left.

[McBeevee]

Yes, kinda hard to tell from your pic, but I think you are referring to the weep holes for condensation to escape. If that's the case, that's perfectly normal.

[RollaMo]

A by-product of an internal combustion engine is water.
So, yes it is normal. You will see this more when it turns cold out.

Once your engine and exhaust system get up to normal operating temps, you won't have water coming out.

This is a perfect example of why you should always drive your car for several miles when you start it.
A lot of people (when storing their car for winter) want to start it up every so often and let it run for a few minutes.
This is very hard on the engine, and will cause premature wear on both engine and exhaust systems.

[kostnkost]

Originally Posted by Never Satisfied

Yes, kinda hard to tell from your pic, but I think you are referring to the weep holes for condensation to escape. If that's the case, that's perfectly normal.

Yeah kind of a crappy pic, but picture the exhaust pipeon the opposite end of the red circle.

The weather has been getting pretty chilly here in NY with snow on the way by tuesday. Glad to see that water coming out of these weep holes is normal.

[2ssblk11]

Originally Posted by RollaMo

A by-product of an internal combustion engine is water.
So, yes it is normal. You will see this more when it turns cold out.

Once your engine and exhaust system get up to normal operating temps, you won't have water coming out.

This is a perfect example of why you should always drive your car for several miles when you start it.
A lot of people (when storing their car for winter) want to start it up every so often and let it run for a few minutes.
This is very hard on the engine, and will cause premature wear on both engine and exhaust systems.

is that true? ive always heard the opposite.


Posted from Camaro5.com App for Android

[RollaMo]

Originally Posted by RollaMo

A by-product of an internal combustion engine is water.
So, yes it is normal. You will see this more when it turns cold out.

Once your engine and exhaust system get up to normal operating temps, you won't have water coming out.

This is a perfect example of why you should always drive your car for several miles when you start it.
A lot of people (when storing their car for winter) want to start it up every so often and let it run for a few minutes.
This is very hard on the engine, and will cause premature wear on both engine and exhaust systems.

Originally Posted by 2ssblk11

is that true? ive always heard the opposite.


Posted from Camaro5.com App for Android

What part do you think isn't true?

[midnighter]

Gaud! I sure don't miss those huge gas can looking mufflers.

[oldfriend]

It's almost the same stuff that the MOON SHINERS make for a living , just don't drink it .

[oldfriend]

Originally Posted by Comrando

The part about gasoline engine producing water and the part where it's hard on the engine.

The water is condensation from atmospheric air entering the exhaust through the tailpipes and condensing in the muffler.

When the engine is started you will see steam and water coming out the exhaust until it dries. Once the exhaust is hot you don't see the steam anymore.

Joking aside , it will do it all the time for as long the engine is running . The reason it stops doing after the engine is running for a few minutes , is that the exhaust system is hot , therefore there is not enough difference in temperatures from the gases and the metal to trigger [B]condensation .
And if you want to try that yourself , find a way to keep that exhaust always cold and you will have the condensation of the engine exhaust gases going on for ever .

[RollaMo]

Originally Posted by Comrando

The part about gasoline engine producing water and the part where it's hard on the engine.

The water is condensation from atmospheric air entering the exhaust through the tailpipes and condensing in the muffler.

When the engine is started you will see steam and water coming out the exhaust until it dries. Once the exhaust is hot you don't see the steam anymore.

Ok, maybe I should have worded it better.
It's not like the engine is actually putting out water.

But water vapor is a by-product of the combustion cycle.
Remember, the air being sucked into the engine contains water vapor.
During the exhaust cycle, the vapor exits the engine into a cold exhaust system.

As you noted, your entire exhaust system would also be full of atmospheric air, and during the winter this air is cold.
When the engine is first started, all this vapor condenses into water droplets out the exhaust tips.

It is hard on the engine to start it and not run it until it reaches full operating temperature, since a lot of this water vapor hasn't been completely burned off.
Remember, there is also air inside the crankcase that is cold and as it begins to heat, you will create moisture there too.
So, you need the engine to reach full operating temperature to evaporate this moisture.

[LimaCharlie]

It is normal. My SS leaks condensation out of the weep holes and it has the trail of black carbon streaks on the mufflers. I'm looking to change out my exhaust soon and dump these big, heavy, gas can mufflers.

[RubyCamaro]

It is definately worth it to lose those butt ugly, lead heavy mufflers. Ruby lost 30 lbs when I changed out her exhaust! And yes, as all have said the condensation is normal, though it seems less to me now that those huge mufflers are off. I could be wrong, but maybe because the stock ones ARE so huge & hold more air for the condensation to process???

[vinman]

Originally Posted by midnighter

Gaud! I sure don't miss those huge gas can looking mufflers.

I actually thought that was the gas tank for a second!

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Comrando

The part about gasoline engine producing water and the part where it's hard on the engine.

The water is condensation from atmospheric air entering the exhaust through the tailpipes and condensing in the muffler.

When the engine is started you will see steam and water coming out the exhaust until it dries. Once the exhaust is hot you don't see the steam anymore.

Highschool chemistry, Gasoline is made up of carbon and hydrogen. Burning carbon produces carbon dioxide, burning hydrogen produces water. Exhaust gas is about 25% water vapour, while air tends to be between 0 and 3% water. Once the car is turned off, some of the water from the exhaust will condense into water as it cools. Eventually, there might be some atmospheric water that condenses inside the exhaust but initially, most the water in the system will have come from the car itself.

Also, you aren't seeing steam. Water vapour (steam) is invisible, it can only be seen once it condenses into water droplets. When the steam is just above boiling temp (such as water being evaporated inside an exhaust system) it will condense back back to water pretty quickly. Once that water is gone, you are left with the very hot exhaust gasses and you'll only see that condense on cold winter days.


As for being hard on the engine, if you let everything get up to temperature the engine should be fine. But running it briefly doesn't allow the oil to properly circulate, which can result in bad things down the road.