Moisture out one tail pipe, and a bit in oil. any idea?

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mrtires24

mrtires24

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HI,

I pulled my 440 duster out of the garage today. unfortunatly we had a really cold winter. (-15C) and my antifreez to water ratio wasn't too high. ( I thought it was better than that)

I am concerned because I have lots of condensation coming out of the drivers side exhaust. I do have some coming out of the passenger, but no as much. when it warms up they both disapear. why would there be soo much coming out of one side? No X pipe just 3 inch duals.

I don't think my Rad was low ( it was low all last year because of no over flow) I have topped it up, and it looks ok after two days of running it in my driveway and around the block.

It had a miss in it, so I changed all the spark plugs and it seams fine now. I had to do this last year too.

I Checked the oil and it looks great.

but I pulled the oil cap breather off the valve cover and found some signs of oil/water mixing. I pulled the valve cover off on both sides, and It looked fine. It did have minor oil/water foam at some parts of the valve cover gasket, and a bit on the underside of the valve cover. but all valves/springs looked perfect. andf like I said, I see no signs of water in the oil when I check the dip stick.

Could this be from sitting for 8 monthes, and just burning off the excess condensation?

The car runs fine ( same as last year)

let me know

I am really hoping It didn't crack the block, or a head or anything. I hope I am over reacting.

Phil
 
I believe you are fine ... the exhaust system needs to get hot to burn up the condensation. It will take awhile longer with 3" verus 2.5 or 2.25 exhaust pipe. You will find out in the long run sooner or later but I think you need to get it out on the road for awhile.
 
Sounds like it is just condensation in the mufflers. There is a lot of mosture here where I live at night and in the morning all the cars are wet though there was not a cloud in the sky. Just about every time I start my Dart up it spits out some water and a little black stuff. I think the black stuff is just sut from the pipes as it will dry up and oil would not of evaperated. So I think you are fine. You should run it for a bit each time to get all the water out or it will rust out your mufflers over time.
 
thanks for the reply guys. I know condensation is normal, But why would it come out more from one side than the other?

And why would I find evidance of foam ( water and oil mixing) in the valve cover?

If it is all just condensation that is GREAT! I have never pulled a valve cover off a car when it has sat for a while, so maybe it is normal. just seams weird to me.

Phil
 
Don't know if it is true or not but I here chrome valve covers make the condensation worse. You should run your car even when it is parked for winter every few weeks or so to keep it cleaned out.
 
I am really really really hoping that the car is all right. You guys think it will be, I know that the antifreez to water mixture wasn't good enough, and that the engine froze. I talked to my buddy who works at a parts shop ( and knows his stuff) and he said that it doesn't sound good so now I am back to worrying again.

Thanks for the feadback guys.

Oh and yes I do have Chrome valve covers.

Phil
 
If you want to gain a little peace of mind, have a radiator shop do a pressure leak down test and then you will know if you have an internal leak. Quick, easy and relatively painless on the wallet.
 
Also for piece of mind,change your oil and filter!Don,t need no water in there,and if it reappears youknow you,ve got issues.
 
mrtires24 said:
thanks for the reply guys. I know condensation is normal, But why would it come out more from one side than the other?

And why would I find evidance of foam ( water and oil mixing) in the valve cover?

If it is all just condensation that is GREAT! I have never pulled a valve cover off a car when it has sat for a while, so maybe it is normal. just seams weird to me.

Phil
Click to expand...

Condensation occurs when a humid atmosphere is subjected to a heat/cool cycle. If you take an empty gas can and stick it outside a few days, there will be some condensate in it. (That's also why OTR truckers have to drain the air tanks on the brake system occasionally.) Sounds like you had some condensation on the inside of the valve cover.

If one side of the car was closer to the house (or another potential heat source) that side would have less temperature fluctuation and less condensation.
 
Burntorange70 said:
Sounds like it is just condensation in the mufflers. There is a lot of mosture here where I live at night and in the morning all the cars are wet though there was not a cloud in the sky. Just about every time I start my Dart up it spits out some water and a little black stuff. I think the black stuff is just sut from the pipes as it will dry up and oil would not of evaperated. So I think you are fine. You should run it for a bit each time to get all the water out or it will rust out your mufflers over time.
Click to expand...
running rich, with the black stuff.
 
72 Demon said:
Condensation occurs when a humid atmosphere is subjected to a heat/cool cycle. If you take an empty gas can and stick it outside a few days, there will be some condensate in it. (That's also why OTR truckers have to drain the air tanks on the brake system occasionally.) Sounds like you had some condensation on the inside of the valve cover.

If one side of the car was closer to the house (or another potential heat source) that side would have less temperature fluctuation and less condensation.
Click to expand...

It was in an un-heated, un insulated shop seperated from the house. No difference in temperature.

I am just hoping that I am over reacting. another freind of mine has a couple tools we can use to check for a crack. I will definatly let everyone know the outcome. I am glad everyone thinks its no bigy. it is kinda putting me at rest. but not completely

Phil
 
Do you got a figure on the antifreeze/water ratio? Even if the ratio isn´t high enough the coolant will just get viscous to some level. I believe that the first evidence of lack of antifreeze would be that the heater core would leak.
If you got coolant/antifreeze in the combustion chamber while the car is at idle you should have a sweet smell in the exhaust gases.
Don´t ask me how I know. lol
 
On my friends 440 GTX, he had water comming out of the one side tailpipes, turned out the head was junk.
 
My dart looks like a damn river when I start her up from cold. We have so
much condensation up here it's crazy. I figure if the antifreeze level isn't going
down, you're ok. If it's not coming from the radiator so to speak, it's coming
from the air.
 
you can take a bicycle tube and cut a length same as your top radiator hose with the valve stem in the middle and replace the hose with it and clamp each end. Then blow it up till it looks like a big muscle. if it doesnt leak down cooling systems fine. if water is cracked into exhaust it will loose pressure.Cheap poboy test.
 
My Dart was the same after the winter we had. I was spitting water out both pipes and had white foam. If you are just running your engine for short periods in the drive way it doesn't get hot enough, long enough to eliminate the condensation. Take it out for a good run and it will all go away. I was worried too this spring. Your fine.
 
I drove it from Maple ridge to Burnaby this morning. ( about 40KM) It seamed to be fine. It didn't have as much condensation coming out this morning. But it did have more coming out the drivers side exhaust as aposed to the passenger side.

on a side note, I don;t see ANY coollant leaks or steam leaking out anywhere in the car. I would think that isf the block cracked so would the rad/heater core etc etc. I was running this morning with the heater, and didn't smell anything.

things are looking more promising.

Phil
 
swedefish said:
Do you got a figure on the antifreeze/water ratio? Even if the ratio isn´t high enough the coolant will just get viscous to some level. I believe that the first evidence of lack of antifreeze would be that the heater core would leak.
If you got coolant/antifreeze in the combustion chamber while the car is at idle you should have a sweet smell in the exhaust gases.
Don´t ask me how I know. lol
Click to expand...

I have no clue. but it looked really week. For those who don't know I threw this car together relativly quickly last spring so that I had it for my wedding. Last summer was a blur. and we don't get minus 20 degree temperature normally. we are lucky to get -5. so I was just an idiot and forgot to double check and winterize my cars. My wifes acura froze in the winter and her colant to water ratio was higher than mine if I remember correctly.

If there is damage it is my own stupidity, but as of now everything looks ok.

I will be doing a test on it within a week. It is only isured for today.

thanks again everyone.

Phil
 
I think it's normal for some water at the exhaust. If you notice factory chrome tips have weep holes in the bottom.It's gonna happen when you go from cold to hot. Besides wouldn't a freeze plug pop out if the motor froze?
 
moparker said:
I think it's normal for some water at the exhaust. If you notice factory chrome tips have weep holes in the bottom.It's gonna happen when you go from cold to hot. Besides wouldn't a freeze plug pop out if the motor froze?
Click to expand...

I would think so, but It looks like ther was some form of adhesive put on the frost plugs when installed. I got the car un assembled, so I do not know what adhesive was used, but I would still think that it would pop out befor the block cracked reguardless of the type of adhesive.

Phil
 
Hey Phil, the antifreeze will gel before it actually freezes solid and I've noticed that the interior of my unheated garage does'nt get as cold as the outside. If it's -25 outside, inside my garage will be -15 degC. Also I should mention that freeze plugs are not used to protect the block from cracking cuss of frozen coolant. They're proper name is "core plug" and are used to plug the holes on the sides of the block which are left over from the rods that are used to support the casting mold when the foundry is pouring the molten iron into the casting mold. If the plugs pop out due to the coolant freezing then that's a plus but that's not their job.
I just thought I'd add this explanation so that builders aren't left with the wrong impression to the point that they depend on the plugs to pop.
Also, if you mix your coolant 50% pure antifreeze to 50% water you'll be good till -40 degC.

Hope this helps

Terry
 
IT'S A MOPAR!! It needs to be taken out, warmed up good, and have the s#@% run out of it. Make sure it is a good long run, to evaporate that moisture. You'll be fine.
 
How did they get the name FREEZE plugs? Just curious.
 
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