condensation on cold starts

BaseEcoboost · Dec 1, 2017

When starting my car or first starting to drive it than idle the smoke/condensation is super heavy to the point where im wondering if somthing is wrong with the car I have a OTS Cobb 91 Occ tune on it aswell as no mufflers, after the car heats up there is no problems with it and it seems to drive fine. when driving just a mile or two when the car was still cold and waiting in a drive-through the amount of condensation/smoke or whatever it is is enough to almost not see behind my car but once the car warms up it seems to have almost none.

BaseEcoboost · Dec 1, 2017

Also the smoke is white not blue/black whatsoever.

ElAviator72 · Dec 1, 2017

Hard to say...up here in Oregon I regularly get the fog show when I start up in the winter (especially if my 'stang gets the boot from the garage...i.e. my wife beats me home :doh: ). I notice that when I start going at this one four way stop about a mile from my house, I'm still making a fair amount of fog (engine temp is almost up to operating according to temp gauge, but oil temp is still really low according to the electonic [non-direct reading] oil temp gauge). Of course, we have a lot more moisture in the air up here to begin with, especially in winter (our rainy season).

If you're really concerned, start the car and get out and smell the fog. As long as it doesn't smell like burning oil or coolant (sweet smell), you're fine. And yes, the ecoboost is known to make lots of fog when it starts cold...

Ebm · Dec 1, 2017

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BaseEcoboost said:
When starting my car or first starting to drive it than idle the smoke/condensation is super heavy to the point where im wondering if somthing is wrong with the car I have a OTS Cobb 91 Occ tune on it aswell as no mufflers, after the car heats up there is no problems with it and it seems to drive fine. when driving just a mile or two when the car was still cold and waiting in a drive-through the amount of condensation/smoke or whatever it is is enough to almost not see behind my car but once the car warms up it seems to have almost none.

Are you catted?

FraG · Dec 1, 2017

Does the "smoke" smell sweet? How is your coolant level? If its going down it could be a sign that water is getting into your engine which is not good.. may be a head gasket or worse.

BaseEcoboost · Dec 2, 2017

Ebm said:
Are you catted?

Yes only modification to the exhaust was removing mufflers and adding pipe with stock tips.

BaseEcoboost · Dec 2, 2017

ElAviator72 said:
Hard to say...up here in Oregon I regularly get the fog show when I start up in the winter (especially if my 'stang gets the boot from the garage...i.e. my wife beats me home :doh: ). I notice that when I start going at this one four way stop about a mile from my house, I'm still making a fair amount of fog (engine temp is almost up to operating according to temp gauge, but oil temp is still really low according to the electonic [non-direct reading] oil temp gauge). Of course, we have a lot more moisture in the air up here to begin with, especially in winter (our rainy season).

If you're really concerned, start the car and get out and smell the fog. As long as it doesn't smell like burning oil or coolant (sweet smell), you're fine. And yes, the ecoboost is known to make lots of fog when it starts cold...

I can smell exhaust but that's about it; nothing smells like burning in my opinion. My car is kept outside its just weird that somtimes its an excessive amount of condensation and other cold starts there is hardly any. I think i'm just paranoid about the tune ending my CPO warranty.

FraG · Dec 2, 2017

Cobb 91 Tune isn't really pushing it much, as long as you have 91+ octane and you are not seeing wild negative corrections you should be right. Been seeing posts buy people here running full bolt on and nice tunes for many miles, so as long as you are not going through coolant it may be condensation but as always have a mechanic look at it if you are really worried.

TorqueMan · Dec 2, 2017

BaseEcoboost said:
I can smell exhaust but that's about it; nothing smells like burning in my opinion. My car is kept outside its just weird that somtimes its an excessive amount of condensation and other cold starts there is hardly any. I think i'm just paranoid about the tune ending my CPO warranty.

Start paying attention to the dew point temp reported by the local weather shop. The dew point is the temp which at the current humidity level the air will become saturated. On calm nights (little wind) when the temp falls below the dew point fog will form; the air becomes too cold to hold the moisture and it condenses into a cloud.

When temps are close to dew point--which is often the case in the morning--the moisture in the hot exhaust immediately condenses, which is the "white fog" you observe.

So pay attention to the dew point. My guess is you'll notice a lot more "white fog" on mornings when the temp is close to the dew point, but not so much otherwise.

BaseEcoboost · Dec 2, 2017

TorqueMan said:
Start paying attention to the dew point temp reported by the local weather shop. The dew point is the temp which at the current humidity level the air will become saturated. On calm nights (little wind) when the temp falls below the dew point fog will form; the air becomes too cold to hold the moisture and it condenses into a cloud.

When temps are close to dew point--which is often the case in the morning--the moisture in the hot exhaust immediately condenses, which is the "white fog" you observe.

So pay attention to the dew point. My guess is you'll notice a lot more "white fog" on mornings when the temp is close to the dew point, but not so much otherwise.

I understand that there will be some condensation its just somthing i wanted to check on due to the fact i could start another one of my cars at the same time or drive with them and the mustang is making 2-3x more "white fog"

TorqueMan · Dec 3, 2017

BaseEcoboost said:
I understand that there will be some condensation its just somthing i wanted to check on due to the fact i could start another one of my cars at the same time or drive with them and the mustang is making 2-3x more "white fog"

Each car will be a bit different. It depends on the internal volume of the exhaust system and how much condensation it collects, so comparing one car to another doesn't really tell you anything.

As long as you're not getting any strange smells and all your fluid levels are good then I would worry about it.

condensation on cold starts

BaseEcoboost

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BaseEcoboost

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ElAviator72

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Ebm

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FraG

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BaseEcoboost

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BaseEcoboost

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FraG

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TorqueMan

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BaseEcoboost

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TorqueMan

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