Water in the exhaust, white smoke.

[TonyHSD]

38 minutes ago, Timh21 said:

Ah, yes, I see that first thing, but thats no different to any of my previous cars. You guys above are talking about in normal driving once warmed up you put your foot down and you cant see out the back window?

When pushed you may see it but when cold or before long run., after that it’s all cleared. Just seen  today a Corolla hatchback 1.8  pushed hardly uphill and water was dripping like from water pipe on hydrogen car. 😊👍

[Stivino]

Water or water vapour from the tailpipe is perfectly normal, it's a by-product of the combustion process.

For every gallon of petrol you burn, about one gallon of water will come from the exhaust.

[mjjferreira]

Have been noticing this in my 2.0 corolla hybrid (2021/12) in the last weeks. (smoke in the rear when hitting the pedal to the metal 😛)

I only noticed it 2 weeks ago, at night. I had a car behind me and with it's light i was able to see the smoke when i accelerated hard.

Today, when i was driving to work, after being 15min driving, i've waited for a good open road...set the car to sport, put he pedal to the metal and was able to see a little smoke from behind.

 

I was starting to feel worried, but reading this thread made feel better. 😛

 

 

[TonyHSD]

There are 3 major events that can cause white smoke vapour coming out of exhaust:

1. When it’s cold as condensation 

2. When engine consume coolant as a result of head gasket or head issues 

3. When you hydro locked your engine- going through deep water 

And lastly if a white smoke but with smell of burning oil is when your engine consumes significant amount of oil . 

In the first event, more water equals better and cleaner fuel burning and perfectly working catalytic converter. 👍
 

[mjjferreira]

In my case, i was already driving the car for about 15/20 minutes and have done around 15miles.

[Stivino]

If a car is burning oil, the smoke will be blue, not white.

 

[TonyHSD]

27 minutes ago, Stivino said:

If a car is burning oil, the smoke will be blue, not white.

 

Thanks for correcting me, you are right . Unburnt diesel fuel is white . 👍

[TonyHSD]

30 minutes ago, mjjferreira said:

In my case, i was already driving the car for about 15/20 minutes and have done around 15miles.

In cold weather especially hybrids can throw a lots of vapour (water) at any one time even after hours of driving. The engine temperature and exhaust varies all the time since engine is not constantly running or running under light load and temperature drops. 👍

[mjjferreira]

33 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

In cold weather especially hybrids can throw a lots of vapour (water) at any one time even after hours of driving. The engine temperature and exhaust varies all the time since engine is not constantly running or running under light load and temperature drops. 👍

Outside temperature was around 18º.

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, mjjferreira said:

Outside temperature was around 18º.

Still different than exhaust gases. Only in hot summer days 25C° + you may not be able to see water and steam but the pipe gets wet in the first few minutes after you start the engine., because of the warmer air around happens less condensation and less vapour. 

[bigblock]

As temperatures drop I get this alot. In fact it can be an enormous cloud of steam when you open up the 2.0ltr hybrid. I think it's because the exhaust doesn't get hot enough when just feathering the throttle most of the time. And then when you need the power there is steam everywhere like starting from cold again. I wouldn't want to be following my hybrid too close when I open up the throttle.😁

[Gray86]

Tis the season. . . People driving behind me must think it’s ruined. 3rd winter with mine now, so know what to expect 

[Cyker]

I think the theory about the exhaust is right; The exhaust isn't constantly warmed because the engine isn't always running in a hybrid, so I can imagine it cooling down, esp. at speed, and then causing condensation clouds again when the engine kicks back in, just like you get with a cold exhaust on a cold morning.

[Gray86]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

I think the theory about the exhaust is right; The exhaust isn't constantly warmed because the engine isn't always running in a hybrid, so I can imagine it cooling down, esp. at speed, and then causing condensation clouds again when the engine kicks back in, just like you get with a cold exhaust on a cold morning.

I’m with you on this. The 2.0 barely revs above 1600rpm in normal driving, and 2,000pm with light load. Coupled with a longer exhaust on the TS, lots of water to clear 

[RzrAzr]

Noticed this too few days ago. The whole area where I live goes slightly uphill if you go north probably for about 30 kms. So when coming back home, I am usually coasting and regening, so the engine stays off and 40-50 kph wind probably cools down the exhaust back to ambient temperature, I then enter the parking garage, where I have to drive up to the second floor and if the engine kicks in then A LOT of water comes out. Was surpriced and fascinated for some reason

[AisinW]

Hybrid normally has higher rpm in iddle because it charge the Battery and also move the car. Non hybrid is abiut 700 rpm in idle, hybrid 1.8L is about  1000 rpm. 

[nielshm]

It's been more than 3 year, and the white smoke thing has always been there. 

But since the car passed 160.000 km., it has completely gone. No smoke, no matter how much I try. Now that's strange. Ever since the car was brand new, the smoke has always been there, and now it's gone. 

Maybe the engine has finished it's break in period? 😆

[TonyHSD]

16 hours ago, nielshm said:

It's been more than 3 year, and the white smoke thing has always been there. 

But since the car passed 160.000 km., it has completely gone. No smoke, no matter how much I try. Now that's strange. Ever since the car was brand new, the smoke has always been there, and now it's gone. 

Maybe the engine has finished it's break in period? 😆

No water vapour in the exhaust it’s a sign of bad catalytic converter especially if it’s accompanied by a bad petrol smell. 

I don’t think you have this at such a low 100k miles, perhaps it’s from the weather. 
Temperatures of 12C° and higher the exhaust produces less vapour and unless you are right at the back at cold starts and watching it you will not notice any, however the water is there in small amounts.  Vapour from exhaust is more like a seasonal thing although it’s presented all the time at cold starts. 👍