excessive water vapor in exhaust

[jonathon]

Been having some issues with my moms89 S-10(4.3L) lately, traced it to a bad battery. Anyways it's also been blowing a LOT of water vapor out at startup and even going down the road a ways. After a long drive it stops, but it's a good 20-30 minutes before it goes away.

It doesn't smell like coolant.

It's not losing coolant.

Oil is clean and fresh.

Seems to be running okay, not great since it needs a cap, rotor, plugs, and wires bad.

When it first started happening I noticed a puddle of water forming under the muffler in driveway. Did not notice that today. Water was dripping out of the tail pipe, but not a lot.

I'd originally thought intake gasket.. but the car isn't losing coolant, and after a healthy drive it doesn't do it

Would water in the gas do this?

 

[chevyuser74]

water is a byproduct of your emissions

 

[jonathon]

I know that, but it sure isn't normal for it to make a smoke screen behind the car when driving or revving the engine up at park Once the truck gets hot, it's gone, but it takes a while and I watch the cloud behind me in the mirror.

 

[toomany]

Is it used for a bunch of short trips? Not letting the exhust fully warm up will cause condensation to form on the inside. Driving the it for an extended period burns all the water off. Most factory mufflers have a drain hole in them for this purpose.

 

[jonathon]

Not really, normal use is a 20 mile commute each way for work. We live out in the sticks so town is 8-10 miles away.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

As mentioned, water from the exhaust is part of the way internal combustion engines work.

If its not losing coolant, you probably don't have a head gasket issue to deal with.


Keep an eye on the condition of the oil and the coolant level but I bet you have nothing to worry about.

 

[4X4HIGH]

If it is a cloud of white smoke you've got issues with either a blown head gasket or cracked head. If it's just a small amount of water dripping from the tailpipe then i'd say condensation.

I shoud take a pic and post it up here of the connecting rod that i removed from a 94 S-10 4.3 engine i just rebuilt that had a cracked head and hydro-locked the engine. It is amazing what water can do to a forged steel rod.

EDIT: Ok, here is a pic of the rod i was talking about.