It's the first nice day here in awhile and as soon as I got my car warmed up I hit second gear pretty hard around a turn. When I checked my rear view I saw a small cloud of what I thought was smoke so I pulled over and investigated. I revved my engine up to 4500 while stopped and it shot water out both exhaust pipes. First, I thought my head gasket was blown and I checked my coolant level and it was fine so I don't think it's the head gasket. I also know that it is water because I put a piece of paper towel near the exhaust tip and it completely drenched the towel in perfectly clear water. I am very worried and hope this could just be buildup in my exhaust system because I haven't driven that far in the last few weeks. Thanks in advance

 

Water is a product of combustion. In cold weather water freezes in the rear mufflers. When it melts you can get a lot out the back. If it concerns you, drill a 1/8" hole at the lowest point of the muffler. I had an XJ6 that would actually block one of the exhaust branches till I did this.

 

I've known some folks to drill a small hole in the bottom of their muffler(s) to let the water drain out.

Yes - it's just good, plain old condensation.

Anything less than a full warm-up and some extended driving will generally cause H2O to build up in the exhaust system.

Hit the freeway and take a run to Denver and back. It will also help dry out the engine innards and any moisture in the oil.

ALSO - don't use a gasoline/ethanol mix, it sucks water out of the air an into the gas. Use only good "real" gasoline. Shy away from more than just the occassional use of "Gas Dryers" and keep your tank FULL of high-grade real gasoline.

That's my two-bits worth!

 

Doesn't sound like everything is actually all warmed up then. How long do you drive the car before you consider it 'warmed up'?

 

Thank you all for the reassurance! I had been driving the car for about 15-20 minutes, and I always keep my tank full in the winter. I just never knew that much condensation was even possible, but I am confident that all it is, is condensation

 

15-20 minutes of driving in cold weather isn't really enough to get a fully warmed up system.