[mrz415]

I'll be plain. I am new to cars in general.
Its kinda cold here at 50F and I notice that
water could be found dripping out of the exhaust
(where exhaust manifold goes to the main exhaust pipe)

I've read that its NORMAL because when it COLD
outside. But it is normally suppose to come out
of the TAIL PIPE ? does that mean I need the pipe
checked ?

 

[subiesailor]

I'll be plain. I am new to cars in general.
Its kinda cold here at 50F and I notice that
water could be found dripping out of the exhaust
(where exhaust manifold goes to the main exhaust pipe)

I've read that its NORMAL because when it COLD
outside. But it is normally suppose to come out
of the TAIL PIPE ? does that mean I need the pipe
checked ?

Ever have a glass of ice water and have the glass sweat water? All your seeing is condensation and water trapped in the exhaust. No biggie.

 

[BossMaverick]

It's perfectly normal. The engine runs on normal outside air which contains moisture. After the combustion process, the water vapor condenses as cools.

 

[hallux]

I'll be plain. I am new to cars in general.
Its kinda cold here at 50F and I notice that
water could be found dripping out of the exhaust
(where exhaust manifold goes to the main exhaust pipe)

I've read that its NORMAL because when it COLD
outside. But it is normally suppose to come out
of the TAIL PIPE ? does that mean I need the pipe
checked ?

First, 50 is COLD?! My outside temp is 18 right now, and it was 36 colder last week at -18!

Second, the others pretty much covered it. Water is a byproduct of combustion. Drive anywhere it actually gets cold (like here) and you'll see clouds (vapor) following most vehicles.

 

[Novablue]

Ever have a glass of ice water and have the glass sweat water? All your seeing is condensation and water trapped in the exhaust. No biggie.

Perfect Real world example right there.

We all of us have asked this question at some point.


Edit: wrote this message before full understanding, please disregard....

 

[upflying]

Cold is at 40,000' and the condensation trails you see from aircraft.

 

[rktheac]

Cold or not, this is perfectly normal. The output from a catalytic converter is CO2 and H2O.

 

[Subyblue]

... I notice that
water could be found dripping out of the exhaust
(where exhaust manifold goes to the main exhaust pipe)

I've read that its NORMAL because when it COLD
outside. But it is normally suppose to come out
of the TAIL PIPE ? does that mean I need the pipe
checked ?

It is normal to have water drip out of the tailpipe. But, I don't think it should be dripping out of the exhaust at the manifold/tail pipe junction. I would have the exhaust system checked. Although might it be water dripping from the A/C system? A/C runs when the defrost is on.

 

[Looby]

Ever have a glass of ice water and have the glass sweat water?

Yeah, but in that case, the glass is colder than the surrounding air.

The OP's case is entirely different. Did you ever see condensation on
the outside of a hot cup of coffee? ...or a red hot heating element?

I'll vote with Subyblue. Either the water is coming from somewhere
else, or there's an exhaust leak at the manifold/tailpipe junction.

Looby

 

[dboz]

You guys are nuts. What do you think comes out of a tailpipe? The water is nothing more than hot gas that gets condensed as it cools coming down the pipe and then runs out the back!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't believe we are even needing a discussion on this topic.

I would like to see a picture of the manifold dripping water. Virtually impossible on any new car. No way it could cool down quick enough to be liquid at that point. Has to be bad communication on where he is seeing this.

How much water? Agree, it could be A/C condensation.

 

[Novablue]

Wow.

I missed that.

I think I thought the same as others that we were seeing water come out of the back of the car.

If I re-read the post, it looks like water is coming from the engine compartment.

That changes things a lot.

OP please post a picture, if you need help with that feel free to pm me and I'll walk you through that. It sounds like it might be the AC (which is on the passenger side) or something very odd is happening because water should not be coming from the exhaust manifold at anytime, ever.

 

[mikelipke]

You better get a sample and send it in to a lab for analysis. You may find the inner Rendler Spindle is shot, and if so, without a lab report, you will never get the Dealership to fix it. It is a spendy fix, so be sure you get it done under warranty.

 

[4wheeldog]

The primary by product of combustion is H2O (Water). Once the entire system heats up, it becomes invisible water vapor, or steam. Even if fed dry air with no moisture content, the burning of gasoline in the cylinders would cause water to form. You can look it up.

 

[mrz415]

Thanks for all the responds.
At first when I saw it.. I had a WTF reaction, then I kinda poke the liquid
and its simply water ...

I then looked at where it was coming from, I've seen it come straight out
of the tail pipe before, but after I turned off the engine in the garage
I saw it kinda dripping where exhaust would normally go out the exhaust
manifold to the down-pipe..

my car is like 2 months old
and I guess I got over-worried,
Thx for all the replies.

 

[Green LTD]

My bet it is the condensate from the air conditioner, which is running quite often, even when it is cool out. If it is under the passenger side fire wall this is likely the totally normal situation.

 

[Bobaru]

It's perfectly normal. The engine runs on normal outside air which contains moisture. After the combustion process, the water vapor condenses as cools.

Actually, the bulk of the water that comes out of the exhaust pipe isn't due to water vapor in the air, although that's part of it. Water vapor is also one of the normal combustion products of gasoline.

Gasoline isn't pure carbon, it also contains various hydrocarbon molecules. So when you burn gasoline, the carbon atoms in the various molecules that make up gasoline become CO2 (plus trace amts of CO), whereas the hydrogen atoms become water vapor (H20). (Which, as described above, condenses into liquid water when the exhaust system is cold/cooler. Once the engine and exhaust pipes are warmed up sufficiently this just comes out as water vapor, also as described above.) The primary reaction is: 2 C8H18 + 25 O2 → 16 CO2 + 18 H2O In short, relatively similar numbers of CO2 and H2O molecules.

One of the reasons that natural gas-fueled vehicles are considered to be "greener" than gasoline-fueled vehicles is that there is relatively more hydrogen and relatively less carbon in methane gas (CH4) compared to gasoline. (The ratio of water vapor molecules to CO2 molecules when burning methane is 2:1. (And with C2H6 ethane, the ratio is 3:2.) And so natural gas-fueled vehicles produce relatively more H2O out the tailpipe, and relatively less CO2. (Of course, water vapor is also a greenhouse gas, like CO2. But it more readily travels out of the atmosphere as rain (and back into the atmosphere via evaporation), and so no one tries to regulate it....)

 

[DougNuts]

My bet it is the condensate from the air conditioner, which is running quite often, even when it is cool out. If it is under the passenger side fire wall this is likely the totally normal situation.

I agree.