[Aaron Silidker]

I am very scared that the head gaskets might be blown. Recently I have noticed water vapor in the exhaust. The motor is new, professionally rebuilt. It is carbed and running rich so I doubt it is water vapor from conbustion. This combustion is far from perfect. If you hold your hand over the pipe while it is idling at 750, you get spots of water on your hand. It has never seen above 215 degrees and has always had 2 industrial fans blowing on it, so I don't think it has been fudged from overheating. Is this normal or I am screwed?

 

[Badcaiman]

How long do you let it idle..It is normal for the car to blow water out the pipe..It is a combination of the air heating up before the pipe gets hot...The higher the humidity the more water...But if you are concerned you can do a pressure test the cylinders or just hook up a Vacuum gauge..But I wouldn't worry about it..Good luck

 

[Ophitoxaemia]

is the coolant vanishing?

there is moisture in the air it uses, of course, so there will always be some water in the exhaust.

virtually all cars will show white smoke (steam really) when they are cold.

-james

 

[Wayne Presley]

If your mixture is rich and the pipes are not real hot, the water vapor will condense before it reaches the end of the pipe.

 

[Aaron Silidker]

Thanks. Actually no water is escaping, but it is turning brown from rust in the block. Once it is really hot, it is fine, I just rarely get it super warm without driving it. Thanks for making me feel mucho better!

 

[Inman Lanier]

Yup to all the above - normal when cold. When hot, however....

 

[Shep]

Wouldn't worry about it Aaron. My Torino is a carbed 351C, usually gets driven only on the weekends. When it's first started I actually have puddles under the exhausts, but after she's wamrmed up, not a trace of moisture. Engine's nice and tight, no oil or water leaks. Runs at 190-195 all day long, which is actually pretty good for a 32 year old Cleveland.

 

[Ed T]

While ther is some water in the exhaust of a normal engine from the moisture in the air, most of it is the by-product of combustion. In a perfect engine all that would come out would be water and CO2. In the imperfect engines we actually live with there's lots of other junk, but always some water. The bad part is that in cars that never get fully warmed up, the moisture in the exhaust condenses out in the exhaust system and can craete puddle of fairly corrosive "water" in the low points in the system. It's a good idea to let things heat up all the way from time to time.

 

[Mike Forte]

Ed T is right!
The byproduct of oxidizing hydrocarbons is water and some not so good unburned gases. Thats why hydrogen power is so very coool. It only produces H2O!!! The world is 3/4s covered by water. We would never need the oil in the mid east then. I hope MIT or someone finds an economical way to produce hydrogen in our lifetime.
Mike Forte
Just think of H2O powered Cobras!!!