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Old Jan 2, 2005
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Water out tailpipe?

Hello, the other day I noticed some water dripping out my tailpipe. I checked the water levels and everything seemed normal.

I think it rained the night before but the drips were pretty constant.

Should I be worried or is there anything I can do or is this normal?

2004 EX Coupe about 6,000 miles
Old Jan 2, 2005
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lol.........that is normal man
Old Jan 2, 2005
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haha nothing wrong there......
Old Jan 2, 2005
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Haha ok, someone said I might have a bad head gasket... was worried.

Anyway, what is that from? Where does the water? come from?
Old Jan 2, 2005
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Originally Posted by flamike
Haha ok, someone said I might have a bad head gasket... was worried.

Anyway, what is that from? Where does the water? come from?
well, yes......if you have a cracked block or blown HG, then you would get water in your tailpipe. But i very highly doubt that........it is just from condensation.
Old Jan 2, 2005
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condensation.. yes my friend... lol.. especially if its very cold out then your definitely gonna get that.. that why you see cars tailpipes smoking when its cold out..
Old Jan 2, 2005
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not condensation man!!! H2O is a major by product of the combustion of fuel. Every tank of gas burned produces a good bit of water.
Old Jan 2, 2005
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its normal from what i heard... peps said its from AC... using ur air conditioner... then water will start 2 leak from ur tail pipe... maybe im/there wrong...
Old Jan 2, 2005
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no when you burn fuel (a hydrocarbon) the hydrogens bond with the oxygens to make a good bit of water. H2O and carbon are the main byproducts of combustion. Your AC has NOTHING to do with what comes out of your exhaust
Old Jan 2, 2005
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your AC itself may however drip water in the summer from condensation.
Old Jan 2, 2005
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Yup. The two products of COMPLETE combustion is Water and Carbon Dioxide.
Old Jan 2, 2005
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its just unburned gasoline. it happens lot more when its cold and u just started the car. DUH!
Old Jan 2, 2005
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bgoetz yur a genious...u must be a chem major?
Old Jan 2, 2005
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Originally Posted by xam
its just unburned gasoline. it happens lot more when its cold and u just started the car. DUH!
unburnt gas?? doesnt that usually come in flames??
a little bit of water coming out is like.... your engine is healthy, as bgoetz said, COMPLETE combustion..... which is a good thing.
Old Jan 2, 2005
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Originally Posted by xam
its just unburned gasoline. it happens lot more when its cold and u just started the car. DUH!

Wrong.
Old Jan 3, 2005
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can we all just say that seeing something coming out like that especially when its cold is normal and leave it at that.. dont have to get all technical about it... lol
Old Jan 3, 2005
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normal. it goes away after the car warms up.
Old Jan 3, 2005
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Originally Posted by ty.barrack
normal. it goes away after the car warms up.
Sort of. The water is still there, just more vaporized and you don't see it.
Old Jan 4, 2005
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yer all wrong... inside every engine there lives a hobbit.. if you start the car and he is sleeping it scares him and he pees.. THAT is where the water comes from!!!

dont ever question or doubt anything i say....
Old Jan 5, 2005
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Unburned gas ??? Thats the funniest thing I've ever heard, maybe if the car used hydrogen fuel, but not gasoline. The water dripping from your tail pipe is condensation. Burnt fosil fuels might leave a trace of H2O but not enough to notice.

Last edited by solar; Jan 5, 2005 at 08:25 AM.
Old Jan 5, 2005
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Originally Posted by solar
Unburned gas ??? Thats the funniest thing I've ever heard, maybe if the car used hydrogen fuel, but not gasoline. The water dripping from your tail pipe is condensation. Burnt fosil fuels might leave a trace of H2O but not enough to notice.
You know nothing!!!!!!!!!! Take a chemistry course on energy. I never said un-burnt gas. I said that the byproduct of the burning of fuel (a carbon/ hydrogen chain + oxygen+ energy (spark plugs)= force (work done) and carbon along with the hydrogen in the form of H2O (along with negligible amount of other chemicals from additives). The fact is that there is ALOT of H2O produced from burning fuel. I use to know the exact amount on average per 10K miles and it was in the 100s of gallons. I don't know about you, but I would say that is alot of water. Before you try to flame me about stuff like this go to college and get a degree then we can talk until then you are not worth my brain power.

note: for those that know a thing or two about this my synopsis on how fuel is used is very simple, just because I don't think he could understand anything more complex.

Last edited by bgoetz; Jan 5, 2005 at 06:55 PM.
Old Jan 5, 2005
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and just to back up my point think of it this way. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy is neither created or destroyed. So all of the components of fuel exit the vehicle through the exhaust pipe only in a relativly inert form. Hydrogen gas is unstable on its own this is why there are only a few different ways to create pure hydrogen gas (electrolisis ect.). There for the Hydrogen molecules that are broken from the carbon bond via energy is quick to bond to a Oxygen molecule (the simplest thing to bond to) this makes H2O water my friend that exits you exhaust pipe. So unless you are going to say that hydrogen builds up inside your engine or that it exits as mostly pure hydrogen (in which case there would be a way to collect the valuable gas) then you are WRONG.

Last edited by bgoetz; Jan 5, 2005 at 07:13 PM.
Old Jan 5, 2005
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I'm an engineer and know exactly what you're talking about bgoetz.

We can actually figure out how much water per engine "putt." Just figure out how much fuel is there, how much air, and you have a basic chemical reaction to figure out.
Old Jan 5, 2005
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^^^^ yep, I am really not an A$$ I just don't like people that think they know everything, but could not be further from the truth. I use to know how to figure it out too, but to tell you the truth I honestly forget how many Hydrogens are in the molecular structure of unleaded fuel.
Old Jan 5, 2005
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Depends which hydrocarbons are mixed together. =)
Old Jan 6, 2005
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Chemist or not, the water coming out the tailpipe is condensation, I'm not saying that you're wrong about fuel leaving behind water, but the water out of a cars tailpipe is condensation, plain and simple. Any water left behind from burnt fuel would vaporize from the hot exhaust pipe, so after you park your hot car and it starts to cool down, water from the outside ambient air will condense inside your exhaust and muffler, just like the water condensing inside your windshield in the morning, or is the condensation on my windshield caused from fuel also?

Plus if your statement were true, then why doesn't water come out your tailpipe everyday? It only happens when high humidity and low temperatures are present.

Also I'm not an idiot, so get off your high "I'm such a smart chemist" horse and get some common sence.

Last edited by solar; Jan 6, 2005 at 08:45 AM.
Old Jan 6, 2005
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No, it comes out of the exhaust ALL THE TIME. You just can't see it because of the temperature of the exhaust. Yes, when you see water dripping out, that is condensation, as the water condenses on the sides of the pipe, and then runs out of the muffler.

Water on your windsheild has nothing to do with fuel.

CH4 + 2 O2 --> CO2 + 2 H2O

This is the chemical equation for methane burning in an excess of oxygen. This produces carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). Note that there is a (2) in front of the H2O, designating that for ever (1) mole of methane burned, 2 moles of water are formed, and only 1 mole of CO2.
Old Jan 6, 2005
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with 6000 miles it is nothing but if you had 110,000 and overheating the id say u have a problum. lol <<<<<<<lil late huh thought i'd break up the manotinay here you guys are BORING. jk lol
Old Jan 6, 2005
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Originally Posted by 4drcivic2k1
No, it comes out of the exhaust ALL THE TIME. You just can't see it because of the temperature of the exhaust. Yes, when you see water dripping out, that is condensation, as the water condenses on the sides of the pipe, and then runs out of the muffler.

Water on your windsheild has nothing to do with fuel.

CH4 + 2 O2 --> CO2 + 2 H2O

This is the chemical equation for methane burning in an excess of oxygen. This produces carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). Note that there is a (2) in front of the H2O, designating that for ever (1) mole of methane burned, 2 moles of water are formed, and only 1 mole of CO2.
yep H2O is H2O in vapor, liquid, or solid form it is still H2O.
Old Jan 6, 2005
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[QUOTE=solar] Any water left behind from burnt fuel would vaporize from the hot exhaust pipe, so after you park your hot car and it starts to cool down, water from the outside ambient air will condense inside your exhaust and muffler [QUOTE]

No you are sooooo wrong. Water from the OUTSIDE AMBIENT air. It is water that is in vapor form from burnt fuel and cools and condenses on the inside of the exhaust. I am not on any high chemist horse, the fact is that I am not even a chemist. However I do have a degree in the science field and took alot of chemistry. I just don't like it when people that are obviously less intellegent on a issue try to argue with me and are dead wrong. If you don't believe me ask a chemistry teacher. The only thing the Ambient air has to do with it is to cool the exhaust no vapor fairies fly inside of you exhaust from the air and deposit water

Last edited by bgoetz; Jan 6, 2005 at 05:56 PM.



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