Hey guys. Is some white smoke and water dripping from the tailpipe and muffler normal from startup to like 3-5 min of idling or driving or if it is cold (below 40F)? It gets thicker with engine speed when it is still there and I can see it when I move the passenger side mirror down. My intake gasket was replaced last year with FEL-PRO gaskets and I have never had to add oil or antifreeze to this car (well, only oil when the oil cooler lines were leaking, but I had those replaced. There still seems to be a leak because the garage floor has little drips on it every morning when I am home from college.). Antifreeze is either at the FULL line or just above it and was flushed about 13k ago, and the oil was changed about 1500 miles ago and is full to slightly overfilled and is a brownish "honey" colored, but I can't seem to find any "milk" or "coffee" color. The oil also has Lucas in it. I have dipped the coolant overflow tank with a rolled up paper towel and all I got was neon orange liquid (yes, I know. Deathcool. It is getting green before the summer starts, even if I have to do it myself.) with no brown or any weird colors in it. I hope I provided enough info. Just trying to cover all the obvious questions anyone here would probably ask. Any advice? Thanks

 

Sure sounds like some normal condensation. My truck will even do it when I pull it out of my garage.

The choice is yours to switch the coolant, but... We already have a thread debunking the myths that are out there.

 

Thanks. I was concerned originally that it was the early sign of a head gasket problem. Thanks for the reassurance.

Also, I have already asked about the coolant on the forum and with all the talk about DEXCOOL and people having less problems with green and my intention to keep the truck on the road for as long as possible (another 12 years or more if possible!) with the least amount of major repairs while using the severe service schedules and even then shortening the intervals on services.

 

sounds normal to me as long as your coolant isn't getting low. I'm getting ready to take the DEXKILL out and put the green stuff in mine when i change the water pump or i might use the yellow since i have some in the garage.

 

Does changing the coolant to green and changing it more often make the water pump last longer?

 

No difference.

 

i agree with kyle no difference. i personally haven't had any problems with the dexcool but i have seen it get dark colored before. I'm putting the green or yellow in after i flush it b/c i have a bunch in the garage i need to use. no point in wasting money. it's all personal preference though. One of my friends told me that dexcool has better lubricating properties than the other stuff, but i never researched it though.

 

Maybe I could try putting Purple Ice in the antifreeze when I make the switch to Royal Purple for the next fluid changes (if I can find a place nearby that sells them!). I hear their products are great. Maybe they might help me meet my goal of keeping the truck on the road for another 10-12 years with less repairs and regular maintenance.