85 degrees outside, Condisation from both exhust pipes ?

[Bill Balkie 24172]

It is about 85 degrees in New Jersey tonight . My 1957 Cadillac runs very well , however I went for a 20 minutes cruise ,left the car idling in the driveway  for about 3 minutes tonight ,i noticed both pipes dripping condisation . I am not sure what is going on. any thoughts on this , should i be concerned ?

Thanks,
  Bill

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

If you see this only when the car is just warming up to operating temperature -- that's pretty normal.
I would not be concerned.  I've seen this for years on all of my older cars. There is always some condensation (from the crankcase, for example) that has to be "blown out" during the warm up cycle.

However, if you see it on an ongoing basis, during normal driving, then I would get your cooling system pressure tested and checked for possible head gasket problems.

Mike

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

20 minutes isn't long enough to get rid of condensation.

Try at least 1 or 2 hours at highway speeds as a minimum.

The reason Exhausts rust out is that they don't get hot enough to remove the condensation during a normal drive to work.

Bruce.

[Roger H]

One other explanation is that water is formed during normal combustion.  HC(hydrocarbon or gasoline) combines with O (Oxygen)
and make H2O, and also  other more harmful molecules.  Once the car is hot this normal formation of water is not visible.  When cold however it condenses  into water drips out the tail pipe.  In perfect combustion only water and co2 would be formed.

[Bill Balkie 24172]

Thank you everyone,  for your response . It is nice to know you can ask some very simple questions and get intelligent answers . That is what makes this club so successful .

 Thanks Again,
  Bill