Thread: Condensation in exhaust

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Hi,
I recently had the heads reworked, on my sbc 400 they were machined ,new valve,springs etc. I put new all new gaskets,etc. prior to the heads being reinstalled to factory specs. the block was cleaned and painted. Everything was assembled the engine fires great runs extremely smooth no issues, EXCEPT I noticed when the engine ran a few mins I was seeing some white smoke from both sides of the exhaust, not a lot, not blue, not sweet smelling like antifreeze. No water in the oil plugs look new, My question is will the smoke mostly likely clear up once its ran awhile, is it condensation/ mositure from when it was apart. or do I have some other problem. as I said the engine runs smooth accelerates no skips etc no obvious signs of any other problems. Just curious.

When I first fired up the stroker in my 27 water drops were shooting out the tailpipes. But after running a while they stopped, so I figure the exhaust system itself had some moisture inside from sitting for a long time. I think you have that going on too. However, the combustion process does cause some moisture and that might be contributing.

I would just watch it for a while to see if it goes away.

Don

Thanks Don,
I appreciate the quick response, I hope that is all it is .

I watched my '31 drizzle water from the pipes after first start then a few drops every other time I've started it since. This is normal. Even your DD will do some condensation drips.

Did you possabily spill some water/ antifreez down the exhaust system while taking it apart?? I know I have.

Moisture is a natural product of combustion, and it condenses in the cold pipes on every cold start. It will be more visible in cooler weather, and once up to temp, the exhaust pipes and muffler evaporate the condensation, drying everything out. You will see more condensation if you are not running a cat converter - the converter gets very hot pretty quick.

Thanks for all the responses, I hoped it was somewhat commom and not a major undiscovered problem and I may have gotten mositure in the cylinder from cleaning the block or something.