Oil/water leak into exhaust problem...

[kythri]

Hey hi howdy.

I've got a '99 XLT.

I've noticed a couple of times lately that my exhaust appears to be dripping water out of it - not a massive amount, but certainly more than it seems it should (and I'm under the assumption that NONE should be dripping out).

I've spoken with a couple of different people, and they've dismissed it as condensation, or water from a car wash working it's way out, that kind of thing.

Well, tonight, I finally cleared all the junk out of my shop so I could bring my truck in, and made use of my brand new Rhino Ramps (love these things!), and crawled underneath.

I don't have pictures at present, but I suppose later this week, I could snap a couple, if it's necessary.

Anyhow - if we look at the cats from underneath, one is mounted flat, the other is on it's side.

From these runs pipe to the single muffler.

Following the pipe back from the cat mounted on it's side, at the joint where it meets the muffler is a small amount of watery oil around the joint.

This seems ungood to me.

I've got no loss of power, nothing is running hot, nothing sounds wrong, no pings, no ticks, no nothing, save for the drips out the tailpipe, and this oily bit that I found.

Any ideas?

I believe this to be a not good situation, and while it may not be immediately detrimental to the vehicle, I'd like get this taken care of.

 

[Rick]

It's normal for some water to drip out of your exhaust system. Even the little bit at the connection is normal on an older vehicle. Nothing to worry about unless the system is rotted out.

 

[BrooklynBay]

If it would be coolant, your radiator would be bone dry after a short time from the amount of leakage you are describing.

 

[kythri]

Rick: What about the oil there, though?

 

[dogfriend]

Any white smoke? Is the level in the radiator going down?

 

[jimbo74]

sure the oil isnt jsut wet soot from the exhuast or crap from the road?

 

[kythri]

Radiator level is fine. The oil I'm seeing is definitely oil - I got some on my fingers, and it's only on that one pipe.

I'll try to get under there tomorrow (or more likely Wednesday afternoon, since I've got other stuff going on tomorrow) and get some pictures.

 

[bp1506]

Yeah a little watter dripping is normal, you see a lot of vehicles do it. My 98 does it and i havent added any coolant the entire year i had it. You even see some brand new cars and trucks drip a little.

 

[BrooklynBay]

If you remove an O2 sensor, and see contamination on it, then pull out a spark plug, and check that for contamination. This will determine if you have oil/antifreeze in there.

 

[gijoecam]

Oh, jeez, not this question again.

For the thousandth time, WATER IN THE EXHAUST IS 100% NORMAL IN ANY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. Combustion of any hydrocarbon results in CO2 and water. Some of that water vapor will condense on the inside of cool exhaust pipes and dribble out. If it doesn't smell like coolant (sickly sweet smell) and isn't losing quarts of oil between oil changes, there's absolutely nothing wrong.

-Joe

 

[dynamite196]

Easiest way to know if your burning coolant or oil is check the plugs. I'm not sure if I totally understood you correctly but are you saying there is oil outside the pipe on the joint? If that's the case then most likely something around that pipe is leaking (i.e. transmission, transfer case, or differential even) You couldn't have oil work it's way from the cylinder through the exhaust and then have it seep out at the joints unless you were burning MASSIVE quantities of oil.

 

[slpdave]

Oh, jeez, not this question again.

For the thousandth time, WATER IN THE EXHAUST IS 100% NORMAL IN ANY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. Combustion of any hydrocarbon results in CO2 and water. Some of that water vapor will condense on the inside of cool exhaust pipes and dribble out. If it doesn't smell like coolant (sickly sweet smell) and isn't losing quarts of oil between oil changes, there's absolutely nothing wrong.

-Joe

Can I get an AMEN.

My Explorer dribbles water ocassionally as does my wifes Infinity QX4.

both have over 130000 miles and both lose no antifreeze/coolant or any noticeable loss of oil between changes.

If oil is making it that far back in the exhaust system, I would think that a noticeable amount would be missing on the dipstick and you would have some seriously funky exhaust.

David

 

[BrooklynBay]

Oil burning also has a foul smell. Anybody that uses oil heat will tell you what their boiler room smells like in the winter time.

 

[dynamite196]

Oil burning also has a foul smell. Anybody that uses oil heat will tell you what their boiler room smells like in the winter time.

Oil heat burns diesel not oil....... unless you're trying to tell me I can dump my used motor oil into your heating oil tank in which case I'd be mroe than happy to