Moisture in Exhaust on Startup

It is perfectly normal.

 

+1

 

Yes it's normal. Gasoline is a Hydrocarbon fuel... ie, it has both carbon and hydrogen. When burned, the carbon turns to CO2.. Carbon Dioxide (well, most of it... there's also often a tiny amount of carbon monoxide). The hydrogen in the gasoline turns to H20... Water. After the car heats up, the water is just vapor, and you won't see it. This typically happens on all cars.

 

Funny timing on this question, just tonight my daughter points to the Tubi in the garage and says 'is that what makes the steam?'

 

Luca points to Mommy and asks the same question.










baaawaaahaaaa!

 

HAHA, you better hope mommy doesn't cruise this forum!!!

 

Indication that it is cold outside too

 

I suppose the answers provided have resolved your question but I, being the anal ass I am, decided to go looking a little further. Without getting all technical the water you see is the direct result of engine exhaust hydrocarbons being converted to Carbon dioxide and Water in the a chemically induced convertion perfomed in your Catalysers. Hence the term Catalytic Converter. It's one of there jobs and the primary reason newer exhaust systems are Stainless Steel. Older model cars without cats, and newer ones with cats bypassed have a much lower moisture discharge. Wikipedia explains it fairly well.

Lane

 

On average burning one gallon of fuel results in eight gallons of water, mostly vapor unless the exhaust is cold or cools down after shutdown.

 

As an aside, this is also the reason why it is good to check for sloping in the exhaust system that can create a mini-catch basin to trap moisture. Ask me how many mufflers we used to replace in the Corvette Club 'til we discovered that leveling them instead of tilting them reduced rust build-up. I got to say that I never noticed this in the desert.