Abnormal amounts of water out the exhaust?

[forcefed86]

I know ethanol has a bad tendency to absorb moisture. Ive noticed on cold startups I have a fairly large amount of water coming out of the tail pipes. Enough to leave a large pancake sized puddle on the ground below the exhaust. I run a 3" DP to a magnaflow turbo style muffler and dump in front of aft tire. No catalytic converter etc... Anyone else notice this?

I've also recently had my intake off after a month or so of e85 and I noticed more moisture than I like to see in the lifter valley area. I run one of Erics turbotweak chips and the electric fans do come on earlier than I like them to. (150* or so I think?) I run a 160* thermostat and the car will stay around 160-170 at idle/cruise. (still in the 50/60's here temp wise) Jumps to 180-190 after being run hard. I was thinking a hotter thermo may help evaporate some of the moisture out of the engine, but at the same time I don't like the idea of a hotter themo for when I'm at the drag strip or when the weather starts to get hot.

Think I should go with a 175-180 thermo? Or just buy an adjustable fan switch?

Thanks all...

 

[1outlaw]

Different engine designs and tunes definitely affect what you are seeing. The water you are seeing is not in the fuel (unless you are running 190 proof home brew, using out of an old open drum, or an open vented vehicle tank with old product). This water is a product of combustion similar to (but far more than) you would get when you burn gasoline. I dont know how you are venting your engine , how long you are operating at high temp to cook off oil, or how rich your AFR is at cold start/warmup so no comment for on these.

I assume you are not loosing coolant.

An example of diffferences in condensation/exhaust vapor is very noticeable in our small fleet of flex fuel vehicles. The '05 Taurus will completely block rear view the first mile at 0 degrees F :biggrin: The Impala's barely throw any more vapor than when they are on gasoline.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[bsdlinux]

I know ethanol has a bad tendency to absorb moisture. Ive noticed on cold startups I have a fairly large amount of water coming out of the tail pipes. Enough to leave a large pancake sized puddle on the ground below the exhaust. I run a 3" DP to a magnaflow turbo style muffler and dump in front of aft tire. No catalytic converter etc... Anyone else notice this?

I've also recently had my intake off after a month or so of e85 and I noticed more moisture than I like to see in the lifter valley area. I run one of Erics turbotweak chips and the electric fans do come on earlier than I like them to. (150* or so I think?) I run a 160* thermostat and the car will stay around 160-170 at idle/cruise. (still in the 50/60's here temp wise) Jumps to 180-190 after being run hard. I was thinking a hotter thermo may help evaporate some of the moisture out of the engine, but at the same time I don't like the idea of a hotter themo for when I'm at the drag strip or when the weather starts to get hot.

Think I should go with a 175-180 thermo? Or just buy an adjustable fan switch?

Thanks all...

I have a catch can on my White E-85 car and now that I switched to a 190 stat last year I hardly ever have to empty it anymore. Everyone says run a 160, I say yes if your a garage queen or track car but if you drive it everyday I would say use a hotter t stat, especially with E85.

 

[forcefed86]

I completly agree. IN the buick I run a 170 thermo. But this monster ford taurus fan keeps the car running to cool. (even on low) The "performance" chips out there all turn the fans on to soon IMO. I believe mine is set to 150* or right around there. I'm planning on buying a seperate adj. thermo switch to control the fan. I have a seperate switch to leave the fan on high when at the track or running high boost.

My daily driven e85 car runs around 193-195. Catch still has a decent amount of moisture. No watery pipes on start up with that car.

 

[Eric Stage I]

Your chip is set to turn fan on at 166* unless otherwise specified.

Eric

 

[forcefed86]

Ah, good to know. :biggrin: I know alot of my older chips were around 150*. Not that there is anything wrong with this setting, don't get me wrong. I have a large aftermarket radiator and a huge fan. And with the oil cooler and e85 on top of that my temps are on the low side for getting rid of moisture.

 

[Eric Stage I]

We can definitely change it to a higher temp if you want. Usually knock is the big concern on pump gas, so we try to keep it cooler. But with E85, knock is not typically a problem, so you could run it warmer.
Eric

 

[Quik]

i have the condensation out of the downpipes on first start up of the day, after that i have no issues.

i run e85 and i prefer to keep my motor as cool as possible especially being 10.0 cr. having high motor temps can lead to a hurt motor if pushed hard at those temps. with that being said i shoot to keep crusing temps around 160-170 on warm days. on cooler days i see 140* and the motor and fueling absolutely love it