Engine Water Coming Out The Exhaust After 1st Startup

BKM48198 · Mar 28, 2016

I put a set of TFS heads and a cam in my engine over the weekend and now I have some water coming out the exhaust. The heads were new and the block was clean, I put teflon tape on all the head bolts and put RTV on the lower bolt threads also. On the intake I only used antiseize on the threads since they went into the alumium heads. The intake gaskets were
Fel-Pro Intake Manifold Gaskets MS95952
which are what go to the Explorer intake, I'm wondering if those gaskets are wrong to use with the TFS heads and maybe I'm getting some coolant leaking due to them? I don't have coolant in the oil, it still looks clean. Any Ideas on what I should check in what order?

stykthyn · Mar 28, 2016

Water is a normal part of the combustion process. Unless you are dumping buckets I would think some vapor on start up is OK.

BKM48198 · Mar 28, 2016

stykthyn said:
Water is a normal part of the combustion process. Unless you are dumping buckets I would think some vapor on start up is OK.

There is some liquid on the ground , seems to be more than just vapor. Ran it the 1st time and let it heat up, then tried it again after it cooled and got the same thing, liquid on the ground, seems to get worse as it heats up. Bolts were tightened properly with a torque wrench.........new torque wrench bought just for this build. Thinking it is a bad intake gasket, runs good other than the fluid out the exhaust.

stykthyn · Mar 28, 2016

Dip your finger in it and taste it. If it's sweet then you have coolant in it and likely a bad lower intake gasket.

BKM48198 · Mar 28, 2016

I'll probably pull the intake back off tomorrow and redo the gaskets, might even put a thin layer of RTV on the gasket, this one went in dry except for a dab in the corners where the rubber front and back gaskets end.

BKM48198 · Mar 28, 2016

Just looked at the TFS website and found something that was not in the printed instructions that came with the heads........
Intake Manifold Tips
Apply a 1/4 in. bead of Permatex Ultra Black (part number 598BR) to the front and rear manifold surfaces. Do not use any gasket on the end
rails, only the sealer. Outline the water openings at the ends of the head with the Ultra Black to help prevent water leaks

OneWheelPeel · Mar 29, 2016

I'm confused. Is it possible for coolant to reach the end of the exhaust in liquid form? I figured that it would always be in the form of vapors/ "white smoke" since it got sent from the engine through combustion... I was thinking that his problem was that It must be humid outside or cold and there's just water condensing in the pipes and it blows out when he starts it. And when he turn the engine of he has hot pipes cooling of and with the right weather it could condensate and give him his problems he's explaining...

stykthyn · Mar 29, 2016

OneWheelPeel said:
I'm confused. Is it possible for coolant to reach the end of the exhaust in liquid form? I figured that it would always be in the form of vapors/ "white smoke" since it got sent from the engine through combustion... I was thinking that his problem was that It must be humid outside or cold and there's just water condensing in the pipes and it blows out when he starts it. And when he turn the engine of he has hot pipes cooling of and with the right weather it could condensate and give him his problems he's explaining...

I'm not exactly sure that it is. My vote is condensation as well, mine dumps a good bit of water but it's always super humid in my neck of the woods.

BKM48198 · Mar 29, 2016

OneWheelPeel said:
I'm confused. Is it possible for coolant to reach the end of the exhaust in liquid form? I figured that it would always be in the form of vapors/ "white smoke" since it got sent from the engine through combustion... I was thinking that his problem was that It must be humid outside or cold and there's just water condensing in the pipes and it blows out when he starts it. And when he turn the engine of he has hot pipes cooling of and with the right weather it could condensate and give him his problems he's explaining...

I usually get a bit of steam or water vapor when it is humid, but this was beyond that and the car sat in the garage for only 3 days since it had been running daily, I was thinking that the intake gasket was leaking allowing some coolant in thru the engine so I changed gaskets and put Ultra Black sealant on and it seemed OK until it warmed up so I started checking torque on the lower head bolts and 1 wouldn't tighten up at 35lbs , all the others were fine but the 1 is stripped out, it torqued down fine when I put the heads on so maybe it is allowing coolant into the engine. I drilled and tapped the block out to a 1/2 inch bolt so I'll go get one in the morning and see if that takes care of the problem. I'm hoping I got all the metal shavings out after drilling and tapping it. Crossing my fingers that takes care of the smoke. The smoke got worse when the engine heated up , and was pretty thick if the RPM's went up, I hope it didn't screw up the head gasket.

BKM48198 · Mar 29, 2016

stykthyn said:
I'm not exactly sure that it is. My vote is condensation as well, mine dumps a good bit of water but it's always super humid in my neck of the woods.

Condensation would explain the water possibly but it wouldn't make the smoke/steam worse after the engine warmed up or when the RPM's go up, this is more than just condensation, one way or another coolant is getting into places it should not be.

stykthyn · Mar 29, 2016

Your last post sounds like a dead ringer for slipped intake gasket. If you had a head leak it would be running horribly.

OneWheelPeel · Mar 29, 2016

Keep us updated. I want to know what ends up fixing this.

OneWheelPeel · Mar 29, 2016

And now that your'e mentioning smoke the problem does point to a gasket.

BKM48198 · Mar 29, 2016

stykthyn said:
Your last post sounds like a dead ringer for slipped intake gasket. If you had a head leak it would be running horribly.

It starts and runs really good, just once it is up to temp there is a lot of steam/ smoke, when it first starts it is like condensation, a tiny amount of vapor coming from the exhaust, about what you would see on a cold morning, but after it warms up it turns into a cloud, like a car with bad rings that is burning oil, but this is water not oil, 100% sure it is not an oil problem.

stykthyn · Mar 29, 2016

My buddies car had the same problem. Bad lower due to improper tq sequence. Ran great until it got warm them just blew white smoke out the tail pipes.

BKM48198 · Mar 29, 2016

Torqued 30,40, 50, 65.........upper center, lower center, etc.... per TFS instructions.

BKM48198 · Mar 30, 2016

I replaced the 7/16ths bolt with a 1/2-13 and no smoke, runs great and now I am done......till the next upgrade. I assume when the engine heated up the coolant was able to get up the threads and into the cyld., I don't know what caused the block to strip the threads out, it did torque down when I put the heads on and seemed to be fine, they must have been weak and once pressure built up it pulled the threads out. I was lucky to have TFS heads that were already drilled for 1/2 inch bolts so I did not have to drill the head bolt hole out. I'm just happy the car is running good now with no smoke.

stykthyn · Mar 30, 2016

Fantastic!

BKM48198 · Mar 30, 2016

stykthyn said:
Fantastic!

stykthyn · Mar 30, 2016

Tfs1 cam?

Engine Water Coming Out The Exhaust After 1st Startup

BKM48198

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I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

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I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

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I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

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I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

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I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

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I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

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