Damn, sometimes life throws you a curve ball

Betrayer00GT · Dec 19, 2007

So,

I have a bit of water vapor exiting my exhaust all the time, now. Not very much at all, but there shouldn't be any of course.

Shortly after discovering this a day or two ago, I remembered that I have a plastic intake manifold. I then remembered there was a settlement by Ford and discovered they created extended warranty coverage program 05N04 for just this reason. It is for 7 years from your warranty start date. That is July of '00, for me.

I missed it by ~5 months. So, I have a Mustang GT with 57K miles on it, and it is leaking water into the combustion chamber.

Hmm...

The KB blower kit replaces the intake manifold, too. Boy, that would be a real stretch at the moment. I assume I need this fixed immediately though, right? It could cause even more issues if it continues unchecked, no?

Any other ideas/suggestions?

damnit

the98stang · Dec 19, 2007

Betrayer00GT said:
I missed it by ~5 months. So, I have a Mustang GT with 57K miles on it, and it is leaking water into the combustion chamber.

Are you sure the intake is cracked? Some condensation is expected to come out of the tail pipes. If your car burning coolant?

Betrayer00GT · Dec 19, 2007

the98stang said:
Are you sure the intake is cracked? Some condensation is expected to come out of the tail pipes. If your car burning coolant?

No, not really sure.

I figured that, even being ~40 degrees outside, 10-15 min of idling in the driveway would have burned off all the condensation.

I do not recall if I have checked, say after a 20 min run somewhere, when it is more like 60-deg outside. I thought so, but now I don't recall, it might have been really cold when I checked the second time - when I got home after a 20 minute drive at the same ~40-deg evening. This has been a crazy busy week though. I could just not be remembering when I checked after a warmer temp drive.

There should not "always" be a bit of condensation coming out of the exhaust though, right? Even in 40-deg weather? Certainly not by the time it is up in the 60s. If I checked at the end of such a drive, the exhaust should be mostly clear, I would think. It should eventually burn off what had accumulated.

Also, what does burning coolant smell like, any idea? How strong with a 40% coolant mix, you think? I remember there was not much of a smell in the exhaust at all, come to think of it. There was something, though. Hmm... I don't really remember. I will check again, once the circumstances allow. Maybe I am panicking for no real reason? That would be awesome. Well, mostly awesome.

2000fordstanggt · Dec 19, 2007

Betrayer00GT said:
No, not really sure.

I figured that, even being ~40 degrees outside, 10-15 min of idling in the driveway would have burned off all the condensation.

I do not recall if I have checked, say after a 20 min run somewhere, when it is more like 60-deg outside. I thought so, but now I don't recall, it might have been really cold when I checked the second time - when I got home after a 20 minute drive at the same ~40-deg evening. This has been a crazy busy week though. I could just not be remembering when I checked after a warmer temp drive.

There should not "always" be a bit of condensation coming out of the exhaust though, right? Even in 40-deg weather? Certainly not by the time it is up in the 60s. If I checked at the end of such a drive, the exhaust should be mostly clear, I would think. It should eventually burn off what had accumulated.

Also, what does burning coolant smell like, any idea? How strong with a 40% coolant mix, you think? I remember there was not much of a smell in the exhaust at all, come to think of it. There was something, though. Hmm... I don't really remember. I will check again, once the circumstances allow. Maybe I am panicking for no real reason? That would be awesome. Well, mostly awesome.

i would say its "always" normal, has been for me anyway. check the coolant by looking at the degas bottle (under the radiator cap) when the engine is ice cold. should be at the line.

BennyBlown2v · Dec 19, 2007

H2O is a normal product of burning hydrocarbons. Perhaps you should pop the hood and actually check and see if the mani is cracked before jumping to conclusions

Betrayer00GT · Dec 19, 2007

BennyBlown2v said:
H2O is a normal product of burning hydrocarbons. Perhaps you should pop the hood and actually check and see if the mani is cracked before jumping to conclusions

How would an exterior visual inspection help me determine if it is leaking into the combustion chamber? Wouldn't I need to see the inside of it, ie remove it, to check for a leak/crack in that case? If I remove it to check for leaks, that is going to cost me all the labor of replacing it.

I was thinking I would eventually see a reduction in level of the water, but I have ~60 miles on it since I first noticed, and it is not doing much, even if it not just my overactive imagination.

BennyBlown2v · Dec 19, 2007

Betrayer00GT said:
How would an exterior visual inspection help me determine if it is leaking into the combustion chamber? Wouldn't I need to see the inside of it, ie remove it, to check for a leak/crack in that case? If I remove it to check for leaks, that is going to cost me all the labor of replacing it.

I was thinking I would eventually see a reduction in level of the water, but I have ~60 miles on it since I first noticed, and it is not doing much, even if it not just my overactive imagination.

Usually the intake manifolds crack through and through, especially in the cross over section and ontop at the thermostat housing. So yeah, an external inspection would help in ruling out at least part of your "problem." Don't be afraid to pop your hood, it won't bite, unless you're a newb then maybe it might j/k

SilverBullet00 · Dec 19, 2007

yea, its not leaking into your combustion chamber, they crack because the crossover channel is plastic... the newer revisions are aluminum. So, when they crack, they usually crack around the t-stat housing or the crossover- which if this happends you will see coolant under the intake manifold, on top of the block. AND you will be loosing coolant pretty quickly.

If your still not convinced, check your plugs. They should be squeeky clean if you are getting coolant in there....

darkside03gt · Dec 19, 2007

you have got to be kidding me. so what your telling me is that almost every car that i have owned was leaking coolant into the combustion chambers? god i must be retarded hahahahahahah

BlackGT4.6 · Dec 19, 2007

I am pretty sure what you are seeing is normal.

Betrayer00GT · Dec 19, 2007

SilverBullet00 said:
If your still not convinced, check your plugs. They should be v if you are getting coolant in there....

Hmm... Doesn't seem likely I even have a problem at this point, but because I've been curious, I've been considering pulling one of the new plugs (from my Summer install) just to have a look. If I do, "squeeky clean" = problem, huh?

BennyBlown2v said:
Usually the intake manifolds crack through and through, especially in the cross over section and ontop at the thermostat housing. So yeah, an external inspection would help in ruling out at least part of your "problem." Don't be afraid to pop your hood, it won't bite, unless you're a newb then maybe it might j/k

Oh, it has bitten. I have the marks to prove it. lol

Not too bad, though. Routing 0ga under the hood (for moving the battery to the trunk) was interesting. That stuff does what it wants to, not what you want it to. The copper conductor alone (under compression from the insulation) is 3/8" in dia. Removing the battery tray was even more interesting (well, if interesting = painful). After 8 years, that bottom bolt was in horrible shape. Went to the Vise Grips pretty quickly, but not quickly enough.

I didn't have any "bites" from the spark plug install over the Summer, though. Or the grille install from last month. Lets hoist one up to newbs and their tools.

I'm thinking part of me is looking for a "reason" to do the blower install - right now. Like I said, it would be a stretch, but I could do it.

I certainly have things to check when it stops raining (no cover for my work area), late tomorrow.

281CI96Coupe · Dec 20, 2007

Dude, its normal, actually if your exhaust isn't leaking a few drops every now and then, your motor might not be so healthy. It seems healthy to me.

Betrayer00GT · Dec 20, 2007

281CI96Coupe said:
Dude, its normal, actually if your exhaust isn't leaking a few drops every now and then, your motor might not be so healthy. It seems healthy to me.

I have seen 0 drops, I am sure they are there (under acceleration on the street and such), but it is all vapor that I am seeing here. And there has been vapor coming out the exhaust (about the same amount) every time I look for it. Always. When I get a chance, I will check a few things out. As suggested here.

I saw my grandma's '91 V6 Taurus when it had a blown head gasket. That was like she was trying to write smoke messages with a crop duster or something. It was a crazy lot of white smoke/vapor. This is just a trickle in comparison. As I said, I thought it was normal on my car, until it was still happening after a >20 min drive. I had never seen that before, as far as I can recall. I am now pretty sure that experience was when it was ~40-degrees outside, so I probably jumped to conclusions as far as the cause. I do not recall if I did or did not check it again, later, after I had taken it for a decent drive in warmer weather (to rule out condensation, I know it has never smoked like that after operation on a warmer day than ~40-deg, like say in the 60s). It has been a busy week, but I still think I would remember exactly when I checked that, if I actually had.

I will update you guys when I look around/check things out later on (when it quits raining here).

Smokeurhonda · Dec 20, 2007

For every gallon of fuel burned, approximately one gallon of water is created. When it's cold outside alot of that water condenses before it reaches the tail pipes. Cold weather seeing water out the tips is normal bro.

Winters98GT · Dec 20, 2007

I wouldnt say that your engine problems are "life throwing you a curve ball". Modding a car is about learning, and breaking parts an repairing. Especially this time of year, much more important things in life than a motor. Eitherway, it doesnt sound like anything serious, monitor it, and good luck

Betrayer00GT · Dec 20, 2007

Winters98GT said:
I wouldnt say that your engine problems are "life throwing you a curve ball". Modding a car is about learning, and breaking parts an repairing. Especially this time of year, much more important things in life than a motor. Eitherway, it doesnt sound like anything serious, monitor it, and good luck

The "curve ball" was the "5 months out of warranty". That wasn't just jumping to conclusions, though. That was more like hopscotching (SP?) to conclusions.

I am fine with breaking parts while modding. It is breaking engine parts that are made of plastic while modding that would get to me. I think that would be reasonable for anyone. Especially if a special warranty was issued to cover that kind of idiocy, and a person was to miss it by 5 months. If that ever did happen to anyone, that would be a "curve ball", by my definition.

Winters98GT · Dec 20, 2007

Betrayer00GT said:
The "curve ball" was the "5 months out of warranty". That wasn't just jumping to conclusions, though. That was more like hopscotching (SP?) to conclusions.

I am fine with breaking parts while modding. It is breaking engine parts that are made of plastic while modding that would get to me. I think that would be reasonable for anyone. Especially if a special warranty was issued to cover that kind of idiocy, and a person was to miss it by 5 months. If that ever did happen to anyone, that would be a "curve ball", by my definition.

if thats a curveball in life for ya, then so be it! good luck!

Betrayer00GT · Dec 20, 2007

Thanks, guys!

Weather was beautiful today, at least by 10AM when I woke up. So, I took me a nice drive around noon, and at the end I checked the tailpipes while the car was idling. Perfectly clear.

So, as everyone figured (even me really, by that point) there is nothing wrong with my car. Of course, I seem to have an over active imagination. But the car is fine.

Awesome.

SilverBullet00 · Dec 20, 2007

It happens.. dont worry about it. Everytime my car makes a funny noise or looses oil/coolant I automatically fear the worst.

Damn, sometimes life throws you a curve ball

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