why is water coming out the exhaust on my car?

Question

i have a 1994 honda civic dx i race as a 4 cylinder at my local track. I took the exhaust pipes off but left the muffler and catalytic converter on. there is puddle of water (3 cups) and steam coming out from underneath the car. can you tell me what it is and how to fix it.

Answer 1

It may be a blown head gasket. A leak between a coolant passage and a cylinder could cause the coolant to simply pass throught the entire exhaust system. You might also have a leak in some hose, like a heater hose, that is draining to somewhere under the car. Combustion condensation would be very difficult to create in quantities of (3) cups of water. I would also expect to feel, hear, and smell boiled or burnt coolant solution if that were the source for an exhaust discharge out the tail pipe.

Answer 2

That's normal. When fuel is burned the normal by products are mainly CO2 (carbon dioxide) and H20 (water). Most of the water comes out in the form of steam.

But some of the water condense while still in the pipes and the drips out.
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The water condensation is the primary cause of your pipe rusting away (from the inside out).

There's nothing to fix. That's just the way it is.

Oh by the way, if you had blown gaskets (or leaking coolants), you would be getting white smoke. The head gaskets don't meet up with exhaust header. They must first go through the pistons (and become white smoke).
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You can go with stainless steel to prevent corrosion. But to me it is cheaper to change the pipe once every 5 to 10 years (or let the next owner do that).

Good Luck with racing.
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Answer 3

If you have a head gasket leak water may be getting into your engine. if you have to keep topping off your coolant that would be a sign of a leak.

If you use cheap gas sometimes they use water as part of the recipe for their gas and this will come out as vapor. There will always be some vapor from the humidity in the air but 3 cups of water pooling is excessive and would make me think leak.

If you run your AC in a humid environment like Florida you will see water dripping from condenser.

Answer 4

water H20, is a byproduct of combustion, it's constant. You notice it more when exhaust pipes are cold, because you also see the condensation produced as hot exh. gasses pass thru colder pipes. As pipes heat up condensation no longer occurs, and h20 produced evaporates in heat of exh.

Answer 5

first you need to find out what it is- is it green (coolant) or is it blue and soapy (washer)? also check to see that all your fluids are full. My guess is that it is either washer fluid, or coolant. In either case you need to try and trace the fluid back to the source of the leek before any further conclusions can be drawn.

Answer 6

Mick Moore and Dave Roberts asked the same question. You should see their answers side by side.

Answer 7

it probably is condensation, if the relative humidity is high it can make a puddle

Answer 8

like what sara f said it might be condensation, either that or a cracked head gasket, you do race it after all.

Answer 9

blown motor. my opion?