Steam From The Exhaust

[ChrisG333]

Hi All

Just become the proud owner of a 1994 Rav4 3 Door. The cars only done 66,000 miles (109,000KM) and is generally in very good condition with the usual refinements but also including Air Con. Took me quite a while to find one with Air Con at the right price (Sub £2000) but eventually found one.

Anyway I went to first view the car and gave it the usual check over - Oil level, Water, Scrapes Dents ect ect. and it all loked fine, the car was up for £1700 but I had an Escort RS2000 4X4 that I wanted to part ex, the dealer wasn't really interested in the PX saying he would have problems selling my car on. So I said I would have to have a think about it and would be in touch, then he said that to make it easier on me he would be willing to lower the price to £1500 for a quick sale, I said I would be interested but only after test driving it and checking everything out as it all seemed to be too good to be true. Well I test drove it for about 20mins and it all seemed fine , gearbox was tight, no knocks or ratles, Air Con worked well, breaks were fine ect ect. So on returning I gave it another once over and thought OK go for it, so I bought it there and then. Went back the next day after work to collect it and then drove home the 50 miles and all was going well.

Got home parked up, as due to the traffic on the M25 it was getting late.

Next day got home from work (I work in central London and so use a scooter) and thought I'd take it out for a spin, was out for about an hour and loved every mile of it, got home went to park up and then noticed that steam was comming out of the exhaust as though it had just been started on a cold morning. Alarm bells started to ring, I checked the water which had been over filled in the header tank but saw this when I first viewed the car, checked in side the Oil cap for mayonaise but is clean, checked the dip stick plenty of oil and a nutty brown no sign of water contamination, so I took the Rad cap off and the water is a sandy brown colour which I've seen before on older cars but couldn't see any oil in it, but to get rid of some water I started it and ran it for a few mins with the cap off to let some of the water push it's way out, then I replaced the cap and let the system represurize, after I had done this I then noticed that barely any steam was comming out of the exhaust?? If you rev the engine you get a small puff of steam but nothing compared to when I first noticed it.

So i'm not sure whats going on now, I know how to diagnose a blown gasket or cracked block but just thought I would share it with all of you as I find it quite strange that this is the only symptom being displayed, I'm going to keep a check on the exhaust steam and water usage until I get it into a friend of mine who owns a garage and he will do a Hydro test and compresion test. The car runs like a dream with plenty of power and is silky smooth so I thought that there can't be alot wrong (famous last words)

So we will see how it goes, I guess I can't be too upset as I think that I paid about £800 less for the vehicle than what it should have gone for so if I have to spend a few hundred on a new head gasket and bits I think that I've still got a good bargain.

All the best

Chrisg

[anchorman]

I honestly don't think you should be too concerned just yet.

I would take off the header tank and clean it out. It is a bit of a fiddle but you can usually do it by using a bottle brush and in some cases I've used fine gravel and washing up liquid - give it a good shake! Doing this will help to keep an eye on things and it also looks better (and you will feel better about it!).

Then get as much water out as you can and add half the cooling system capacity with good quality anti freeze.

The way the weather has been, it is either low ambient or very damp and either will create a lot of steam - approximately 1 gallon of water is created for every gallon of petrol used.

If there is no signs of water in the oil, no signs of bubbles in the header tank and it runs at normal temperature then I think you should be OK or at least I would give it an extendad trail before tearing it apart!

[ChrisG333]

I honestly don't think you should be too concerned just yet.

I would take off the header tank and clean it out. It is a bit of a fiddle but you can usually do it by using a bottle brush and in some cases I've used fine gravel and washing up liquid - give it a good shake! Doing this will help to keep an eye on things and it also looks better (and you will feel better about it!).

Then get as much water out as you can and add half the cooling system capacity with good quality anti freeze.

The way the weather has been, it is either low ambient or very damp and either will create a lot of steam - approximately 1 gallon of water is created for every gallon of petrol used.

If there is no signs of water in the oil, no signs of bubbles in the header tank and it runs at normal temperature then I think you should be OK or at least I would give it an extendad trail before tearing it apart!

Hi Anchorman

Thanks for that. I've since emtied some more water out and put in about a litre of Antifreeze for tonights snow. I went for a drive for about half an hour and there was not a hint of steam coming out after it warmed up, ambiant temprature I think is about -1c. I sat ticking over for a few mins when I got home and when i reved the engine there was a slight puff of steam then it clears so I think that maybe everything is OK.

When I picked up the car the dealer had jet washed it so maybe they had managed to fill up the exaust with water and it's now cleared, who knows.

Anycase I'll take your advice when the weather is a bit warmer and clean out the header tank and just keep an eye on it.

Thanks

Chris

[dawesy]

if its not overheating then all is well.

as said the weather at the moment will cause condensation but nothing to worry about.

enjoy you new rav

[T V O R]

From what you have said it doesn’t sound like the head gasket. As mentioned if the temperature of the engine within normal range and its not using gallons of water, I would think it’s due to the cold outside temperatures.