Water is steaming from the exhaust while engine is running

Hello Joe, and Happy New Year :>D

Gasoline contains water at molecular level, and when the gas is combusted in the engine, the water turns to steam and condenses on the cold walls of the exhaust and drips from the tailpipe. If the weather is cold and the engine is only ticking over, water will continue to drip. If you take the vehicle for a run, the extra heat in the exhaust due to higher revs will heat up the walls of the exhaust and the dripping will stop. What you are seeing is perfectly normal in the winter. Only the ambient temperature outside will affect warm up time because the engine block is pre-chilled in winter, or warm in the summer.

Cold weather right? Dripping is the water condensing from the exhaust gases. The "smoke" is more than likely water vapor, just like your breath in cold weather. If you have smoke (black) in warmer weather, you have an excess fuel problem and won't pass emmision tests. If blue smoke you have oil leaks into the coubustion chamber. Also will not pass emmisions test.

Hi Kara,

Get the oil changed. You don't want water or coolant mixed with the oil as it will turn the oil milky and is not supposed to be mixed with oil.

Since you're always adding coolant - it must be leaking somewhere. This is not good. Hopefully, it is just a leak from a hose or similar ($). Look at the ground where you park. If it is spotty with marks - it may be dripping over night. Park in an area that is clear of these marks - or slide a large piece of cardboard under the engine over night. That way you can see if you have a leak dripping on the ground or cardboard. If it is not showing up over night - it could be a bigger deal.

It could either be a leak thru a cracked engine block ($$$ - $$$$) or gasket ($$) into the engine oil (changing it out with fresh oil will tell you if it is leaking into the oil if it turns milky in color) or into one of the cylinders and is mixing with gas while the engine is running. When this happens, the water is super heated and appears as white smoke - but is really just steam - at the exhaust pipe.

This is going to cost a few bucks to fix - but it could also be a game changer as far as whether you fix the car and fix it or sell / trade for another depending on whats wrong and how much the car is worth.

Good luck!

Oil? Or condensation mixed with carbon inside the exhaust? Oil coming out would be a very bad sign of serious engine damage. Condensation is normal, and sometimes looks like oil, but it isn't. Do the drops you see dry up after a while?, that would be condensation, and that is just fine. If the drips never dry up, that's oil, and time for a new engine

• coolant from exhaust indicates a blown head gasket or a cracked head on the block

white were? the exhaust tip, or other spot, long pipe, name spot?
white, is steam or OIL.
oil smells like burnt oil and takes for ever to dispate
steam is water, and smells , sweet due to 50% glycol inside.
and goes away fast.
but all Gas engines make water at all the time running as a by product of combustion and for sure on cold days, some times full time cold
due to climate effects.
does your neighbors car smoke at same time, (look)
bingo , dew point.

all gas engine smoke cold started, (steam)

so first find out what it is,
take the dip stick out of a hot engine. stalled, drip it on the exhaust
see that smoke ,smell it? that is burning oil
now you know what you have, steam or oil. smoke.

Sounds like a gasket yes. If the head is aluminum it could be warped, or bock could be cracked. Either way, water in exhaust system is not a good sign. Check the oil. If there are bubbles, foam, or anything but oil, then you know it's mixing someplace.

Jags are HARD to work on, and even HARDER to buy parts for ... so ... have you ever heard of K-Seal? If it WORKS, it could save you $1,000's! If it doesn't work, you're out less than $20!

could have a blown head gasket or cracked head or worse case scenario, a cracked block letting oil into the combustion chamber and out the exhaust. if it is letting coolant into the oil then pull the dipstick and there should be a milky white look to it where the oil tried to mix with the coolant. but its normal to have water alone drip from the drain hole in the exhaust from condesation. for every gallon of fuel your vehicle uses, it produces about a gallon of water thru the exhaust

The ONLY way coolant can get into the crankcase is through a crack in the cylinder head, block, or head gasket. THE ONLY WAY!.

Checking compression was a good idea, and you've confirmed that is not where the leak is. It could be somewhere else within a head, the block, or head gasket.

Any gasoline engine will blow steam from the exhaust pipe on start-up and a few minutes running. May even stink, depending on how sensitive your nose is to smell.

I think your going to have to dig deeper into this, if you truly had coolant in the oil. But to tell you exactly where to look is not going to be easy.