Smoke, steam - what is it???
Discussion
Hello all
Just got back from the supermarket this morning and noticed a small amount of either smoke or steam (white) coming from the exhaust. It didn't really have an odour, and I'm 99% certain it was steam. Is this normal? I'm the automotive equivalent of a hypochondriac, so any advice/anything to put my mind at rest would be great. It's an E36 320i (M50) by the way.
Cheers in advance
Chris
edited to add that I reckon it's just cos it's colder than usual - just been for a run and there was steam on my breath [numpty mode off]
>>> Edited by ChrisO on Saturday 10th July 14:57
Just got back from the supermarket this morning and noticed a small amount of either smoke or steam (white) coming from the exhaust. It didn't really have an odour, and I'm 99% certain it was steam. Is this normal? I'm the automotive equivalent of a hypochondriac, so any advice/anything to put my mind at rest would be great. It's an E36 320i (M50) by the way.
Cheers in advance
Chris
edited to add that I reckon it's just cos it's colder than usual - just been for a run and there was steam on my breath [numpty mode off]
>>> Edited by ChrisO on Saturday 10th July 14:57
Probably nothing to worry about at all, there is always an amount of vapour that comes out of the exhaust, sometimes drips of water come out, especially in cold weather.
You only have to worry if when the engine is fully warmed up, you see lots of white smoke coming from the rear end when you accelerate hard. When I say lots of steam I mean something thomas the tank would be proud of. This would indicate the head gasket has gone.
Your cars symptoms sound fine to me.
You only have to worry if when the engine is fully warmed up, you see lots of white smoke coming from the rear end when you accelerate hard. When I say lots of steam I mean something thomas the tank would be proud of. This would indicate the head gasket has gone.
Your cars symptoms sound fine to me.
ChrisO said:
Hello all
Just got back from the supermarket this morning and noticed a small amount of either smoke or steam (white) coming from the exhaust. It didn't really have an odour, and I'm 99% certain it was steam. Is this normal? I'm the automotive equivalent of a hypochondriac, so any advice/anything to put my mind at rest would be great. It's an E36 320i (M50) by the way.
Cheers in advance
Chris
edited to add that I reckon it's just cos it's colder than usual - just been for a run and there was steam on my breath [numpty mode off]
>>> Edited by ChrisO on Saturday 10th July 14:57
We used to have a Jaguar XJ12, and that would produce huge quantities of steam from the tail pipes for the first few minutes following a cold start. You could be forgiven for thinking the power unit was a steam engine! The effect was especially noticeable on a cool damp day.
I assumed the explanation was the combined effect of a large engine (which meant a large quantity of exhaust gases), and a large exhaust system that took a while to warm up. Until the engine and exhaust system reached normal operating temperature a great deal of condensation was therefore produced.
My guess is that you have nothing to worry about.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
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