1999 v70 white-ish smoke from tailpipe

[MikeM1212]

Fix that pinhole with someJB weld. You need pressure in your cooling system to stop the coolant from boiling

You can then also monitor,the coolant level correctly and see if you are losing coolant somewhere

Gonna have to pull raidator to fix pinhole , was thinking of trying the radiator stop-leak solution and pouring it in to see if it might stop it. It worked for 2 years on an old car and never leaked a drop after. The previous owner took care of car very well and said before pinhole leak in radiator the coolant level never dropped between coolant changes. Sucks cause I just can't figure it out. The water in and coming out of the tailpipe if confusing me.

Don’t use stop leak. There are small orfices in this engine that don’t respond well to glue

Can you get to the pinhole without pulling the radiator? If it’s spraying on the radiator it should’ve visible. I drove a jb welded radiator for 100 k miles/ 4 years

I don't think I can without pulling it because it is right where there plastic meets the metal , worst case I will swap out with brand new radiator. The stuff in and coming out of tailpipe is whats confusing /worrying me. Out here again today looking at it and once again it's literally straight water coming out exhaust.

[amblerman]

I don't think I can without pulling it because it is right where there plastic meets the metal , worst case I will swap out with brand new radiator. The stuff in and coming out of tailpipe is whats confusing /worrying me. Out here again today looking at it and once again it's literally straight water coming out exhaust.

some amount of water will always come out as water is a by product of combustion.

especially on cold days as the water vapor hits the cold exhaust and condenses.. then when enough of that happens, will dribble out of the tailpipe as water.

but how much is proper is hard to tell . Especially when your car has a known coolant leak . does your exhaust smell sweet like maple syrup-ish?

My brother recently got a used truck and was convinced he had a blown head gasket because of coolant lose and some about of steam/water coming out his tailpipe. Did some research and a common issue on his truck is worn out radiator cap. Once he replaced that. coolant level remained stable.

[Sommerfeldt]

Unless you're losing coolant without a leak, it's not coolant. That's the crux of this, really - like the others have said, you should fix the known issue to be able to gauge the unknown.

All my Volvos have made conspicuous amounts of white "smoke" at times, and it's always been nothing but condensation. Most likely, that's your situation as well. But, fix the knows issues to figure out the unknowns.

- S

[rguzz]

Get to your nearest auto store and rent a block tester which will sniff for products of combustion in the coolant. I had to buy the small bottle of reagent, 8 bucks or so. My 850t at times appears to blow lot's of condensation from the tailpipe which for my car I know is "normal". I'd look to a definitive test rather than have angst about it while you do other stuff. Also look @ this. But you aren't losing coolant, it's the general principle.

[MikeM1212]

I don't think I can without pulling it because it is right where there plastic meets the metal , worst case I will swap out with brand new radiator. The stuff in and coming out of tailpipe is whats confusing /worrying me. Out here again today looking at it and once again it's literally straight water coming out exhaust.

some amount of water will always come out as water is a by product of combustion.

especially on cold days as the water vapor hits the cold exhaust and condenses.. then when enough of that happens, will dribble out of the tailpipe as water.

but how much is proper is hard to tell . Especially when your car has a known coolant leak . does your exhaust smell sweet like maple syrup-ish?

My brother recently got a used truck and was convinced he had a blown head gasket because of coolant lose and some about of steam/water coming out his tailpipe. Did some research and a common issue on his truck is worn out radiator cap. Once he replaced that. coolant level remained stable.

No the exhaust does not smell like anything at all, not even a hint of sweet smelling. Been doing research and haven't found anything definite so that's why I'm still scratching my head

[MikeM1212]

Radiator fixed.not losing coolant.still making "steam" even in warm temperatures outside, not as bad as cold weather but still doing it and still seeing water sitting in tailpipe and spitting out. Car running PERFECT have no clue what is going on but it is scaring me still.

[misha]

Give it a 30min drive in high rpms with few good pulls to empty that condensation from exhaust.
If coolant level stays on the mark....it's just condensation.

[MikeM1212]

Give it a 30min drive in high rpms with few good pulls to empty that condensation from exhaust.
If coolant level stays on the mark....it's just condensation.

I drove it 55 miles up highway , high rpms, coolant level stayed nice. Car drove and felt fine. No loss of power or oil or coolant or anything. Still even blows a little "smoke" or steam after I got back to my driveway, although minimal compared to when first started. Whenever the weather is freezing, no matter what I do, it blows the steam out the pipe pretty thick. I keep thinking condensation but then I don't know why it doesn't stop.

[MikeM1212]

Get to your nearest auto store and rent a block tester which will sniff for products of combustion in the coolant. I had to buy the small bottle of reagent, 8 bucks or so. My 850t at times appears to blow lot's of condensation from the tailpipe which for my car I know is "normal". I'd look to a definitive test rather than have angst about it while you do other stuff. Also look @ this. But you aren't losing coolant, it's the general principle.

So when you noticed your car making "normal" condensation and bought the bottle of reagant block tester , what happened when you used it? Did it reveal combustion in your coolant or no?

[rguzz]

This is a very sensitive test, if no products of combustion present in the coolant no color change of the reagents. The idea here is that you test, if negative, then you can move on in your thinking. The video was provided for the principle involved, not because it's what you are experiencing. I last used a block tester on an 89 Vanagon that overheated several times and had bubbling in the coolant. Test was negative, and a coolant breech was otherwise located. Since then, I've been sold on this inexpensive and informative test. Maybe someone knows or can elaborate on it's limitations, if there are any.