why does steam come out of car when car exhaust has warmed up?

Question

why does steam come out of car exhaust when car exhaust has warmed up.

Answer 1

if it does this then goes away after a moment...just condensation...if it continues and is constant...sorry..bad news...cracked head

Answer 2

It quite depends upon when it is happening as to what the likely source is.

If it is just on start-up, then most likely the water comes from one of two sources--water produced in the cat convertor that has settled into the exhaust system when you shut the engine off last, or moisture from the surrounding air that was drawn into the exahaust system when it cooled and the contracting exhaust gasses created a vacuum that drew moisture laden outside air up the exhaust pipe. In either case, when you restarted the engine and wamed it up the water was transformed into steam, and neither is serious.

If, on the other hand, it steams all of the time, and you are having to replace coolant, you most likely have an issue with your head gasket, or even your cylinder head or engine block.

Your cooling system circulates coolant through the engine in tubes that run through the walls of the engine block and cylinder head which are often referred to as journals. At the junction between the block and the head you have a sealing gasket (cleverly called a clyinder head gasket, or just a head gasket for short). Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, the seal that gasket provides becomes compromised--age, improper torque on head bolts, over-heating--any number of reasons. It then allows coolant to escape, or oil to mix with coolant and one way or another the coolant finds its way into the combustion chamber, eitehr through a direct breach or mixed with the oil and once there it steams off during combustion.

There is also the possibility, though less likely, of a cracked cylinder head or block that is allowing coolant into the combustion chamber--producing the same resultant steam but far more costly to fix, of course.

I hope this has been helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at [e-mail].

Answer 3

Water is a via-manufactured from combustion of hydrocarbons (the hydrogen and oxygen form water vapor). while the engine is chilly, the vapor cools because it leaves the engine, because of the fact the tailpipe and different products are chilly. This motives the vapor to condense out of vapor into water droplets. because of the fact the engine heats up, the vapor is warmer and the tailpipe and different aspects are warmer. this permits the water vapor to proceed to be as a gas, a minimum of till it clearly cools. to illustrate this take a heat engine the place you may no longer see the vapor and carry a pitcher of chilly water interior the exhaust circulate. Droplets will right now form on the glass.

Answer 4

Sounds like perhaps you have a leak between your coolant system and your fuel system. This is not an uncommon symptom of a blown head gasket.

Answer 5

It's because of the catalytic converter. It turns most of the harmful exhaust gasses into carbon dioxide and water.

Answer 6

Your getting water into your cylinders. This usually means you have a blown head gasket or cracked head. You'll need to have the head pulled to check to see which it is.

Answer 7

People!!! it mean your car have good compression and the air fuel mix are good and the catalytic converter doing it job....... if you think is your coolant ? there will be smoke come out of your exhaust , "coolant is not water"

Answer 8

it's water condensation from sitting overnight burning off