Antifreeze/water concentration

[Jimmy9190]

Some of you here may know I put a new water pump on my Dakota this past weekend. I have a post about it here:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/play-in-water-pump-shaft-bearings.147929/

My truck runs fine now, the temp gauge is right where it should be, oil pressure is good, no noises or vibrations or anything like that. It did fine coming to work today at 72 mph on the interstate.

What the truck does do though is it has a lot of condensation-white smoke out of the tail pipe when it is first started. After I drive about 2 miles or so and the engine warms up, the smoke stops. Before I installed the new water pump it did that too, just not as much quantity of smoke and it stopped after driving less than a mile. I know some amount of white condensation out the exhaust is normal when it is cold and/or humid outside. But I am a little worried that it happens now for a longer period of time with a larger amount of condensation smoke.

I think everything is OK and the reason this is happening is

1. I have a better water pump now that is moving the correct amount of coolant through the engine.
2. I think that the concentration of coolant to water I used is less than what I drained out when I R&R'd the water pump. I think the old coolant mixture had a lot more water in it so it heated up faster, and the condensation smoke stopped sooner.

When I added coolant yesterday after installing the new water pump I added a whole gallon of plain regular green coolant, then about half a gallon of about a 50/50 mixture of coolant and distilled water. I ran the truck for a long time, topping it off as needed then checked it again last night and added a little more 50/50 mix. Then this morning I added about half a cup of plain distilled water because the level was just a little low in the fill neck. My coolant fill is in the middle of the upper radiator hose.

I am concerned about the condensation smoke and I greatly appreciate any info you guys may have on it. Thanks.

 

[Kestas]

From what you describe, I don't think you have coolant leakage into the exhaust. Your coolant level is dropping because the system is burping itself every thermal cycle. It'll reach a point where you need no more top-off.

 

[rslifkin]

^ Agreed. These engines take a bit of time to burp fully.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks. I'll keep checking the coolant level and add only distilled water until it needs no more top-off. I think it has enough coolant in there already, with what remained in the radiator and block after I removed the lower radiator hose to drain the system and the amount of coolant and water I added yesterday. My oil level is fine, there is no coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant, and the oil fill cap is clean on the bottom.

Thanks very much for your help.

 

[UNC017]

Don't forget that a slight difference in the WEATHER (especially higher relative humidity) will make the exhaust vapor stay visible and look much thicker at some times than others.

 

[UNC017]

Regarding how long it takes to "burp" smallblock Mopars... parking it on a steep hill (or driveway ramp, etc.) nose-up, and idling for 5-10 minutes works wonders for making air migrate into the top radiator tank. Don't do the initial fill and start that way, but once you get it mostly full it can help.

 

[Jimmy9190]

^^Thanks. I'll try that. I didn't know about that trick. It has been weird weather here the last few days, it was cloudy and very humid on Sunday and yesterday it was warm in the morning and it rained in the afternoon and the temp dropped about 15 degrees in 2 hours. It wasn't raining when I took that first test drive but it was real humid and wet out even though it was cool, about 55 or 60 degrees. There was a ton of condensation fog coming from the tail pipe after only driving a mile. I thought I had a blown head gasket or something. By the time I got it home the smoke was gone. It was cloudy, cool and still muggy/humid this morning and I had a fair amount of smoke then too. It's supposed to dry out and get warmer this afternoon. I will keep checking the coolant level.

Thanks again.

 

[Kestas]

Take a look at the other cars around you in the morning. Check and see whether they are putting out white vapor.

Around this time of year you can tell whose car isn't warmed up yet getting on the freeway. They have a lot of white vapor billowing from their exhaust.

 

[MNgopher]

Or if its below zero, the vapor never goes away. I had a vapor trail the whole 25 miles to work today. -10F will do that... Even the semi trucks trail nice long clouds of vapor...

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Or if its below zero, the vapor never goes away. I had a vapor trail the whole 25 miles to work today. -10F will do that... Even the semi trucks trail nice long clouds of vapor...


It gets really impressive when the diesel railroad locomotives do that. A 4-locomotive train with 4 HUGE roiling towers of white vapor trailing back is something to see.

 

[Jimmy9190]

I smelled antifreeze tonight when I stopped at the computer repair shop on my way home from work. Popped the hood and saw a small amount of green antifreeze leaking from the connector on the overflow tank from the radiator cap. I got it home OK, put it up on ramps, replaced the leaking hose on the overflow tank, somehow it got a small pinhole in it. Plus I had to tighten down the clamp on the upper radiator hose at the radiator side, it was seeping just a little. I added a second clamp there just to seal it better.

While I was doing all that I had the truck up on Rhino Ramps, I had it running a good 20 minutes while I was checking for leaks.I saw no more leaks from anywere under the truck, and I spent a long time looking and cleaning up spilled coolant off the underside of my truck.

It's cold here tonight, was probably 50 degrees in the garage with the door open. Truck still had white smoke out the tail pipe soon as it started to get warmed up but didn't seem to be as much as yesterday or this morning. It had just a puff of white smoke when I started it up to leave work at 5:00 today, but it was about 60 degrees then I guess. I am sure it's OK but the smoke is still unsettling to see, especially that much of it. I wonder if Rhino Ramps provide enough of an incline to burp they cooling system? And do you need to have the cap off the overflow tank for the incline trick to work?

I worry now that I will have nightmares where I am being chased by giant globules of green coolant. I sure hope this water pump ordeal is finally over.

Thanks for the help here. I do appreciate it.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks again everyone. My truck seems to be back to normal now. It was 40 degrees here this morning and I had the usual amount of condensation out the tail pipe when I left for work. By the time I got about 3/4 of a mile down the highway the smoke had stopped. That is exactly how it worked before I R&R'd my water pump.

I saw a police car sitting in the median of the highway, idling there, I guess he was clocking speeders. I have no way to know how long he had been there but he had a lot of condensation out his exhaust too. I also saw an F150 at a red light here close to work, he had to have just started up and headed out to the road, the truck still had dew all over it. He had duals and thick condensation was coming out of both pipes.

I checked under the hood when I got to work, nothing is leaking. When I left for work I checked the coolant level, it was right where it should be, just below the coolant fill neck.

I'll still check everything again for the next few days but it looks like everything is OK now. Thanks for your help on this one. I appreciate it.

 

[rslifkin]

After I did the radiator on my Jeep, I was chasing leaky hose clamps for about 2 weeks. Drive the Jeep every day, find a new leak. Add or tighten a hose clamp, find another leak the next day. Hose clamps can stretch a little as they heat cycle, so they may need to be re-tightened a couple of times to seal up perfectly.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Thanks. I'll keep an eye on the clamps for a while too.

When I did the water pump I replaced every single hose factory squeeze type clamp with a plain old screw type regular hose clamp. I replaced the clamps on both rad hoses, both heater hoses, the bypass hose and last night I put new clamps on the new piece of hose I used to replace the coolant overflow tank hose. So far they seem to be holding fine.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: rslifkin
After I did the radiator on my Jeep, I was chasing leaky hose clamps for about 2 weeks. Drive the Jeep every day, find a new leak. Add or tighten a hose clamp, find another leak the next day. Hose clamps can stretch a little as they heat cycle, so they may need to be re-tightened a couple of times to seal up perfectly.


Which is why I've finally decided that factory spring-type clamps are actually better. Not the old-style round cross-section ones from the 60s and 70s that cut a deep groove in the radiator hose... but the modern flat ones. Screw-clamps loosen up as they heat cycle, but the spring type ones always keep pressure on the hoses. The downside is that the don't work well on old hoses once you've removed them and are trying to put them back on, but on new hoses I think the OEMs are doing it right with the flat metal spring clamps.

 

[rslifkin]

^ Agreed. I was tempted to break down and get a full set of spring clamps from the dealer when I finally got the last of the leaks to stop.

 

[Arnaldo]

I'm new to the Forum. Greetings, old buddies! Does warm weather all year through help? 'Cause I've never seen that happen to my '04 350Z--thank God!--which only has 28,700+k on it, BTW.

Arnaldo
Puerto Rico
LAND OF THE POTHOLES!!!

 

[morris]

ok one more time. to keep from air lock, drill a 1/8 inch hole in the stat.

 

[rslifkin]

^ I've never seen one of these engines air lock and need the hole, they just take a few heat cycles to get all of the air out of the heater circuit and such.

 

[Jimmy9190]

I believe all the air is finally bled out. It's not making near as much condensation as before, even in the cooler part of the morning when I head out to work. Thanks for all the help.