Water in exhaust system

[JHZR2]

Hi,

My 98 S-10 ZR2 is a weekend vehicle. It goes on longish trips, usually 200-300 miles, most all of it highway (>80%). Of course it sits 5 or more days a week.

The truck runs great. there is never smoke that comes out of the exhaust, except on a really cold morning, when it does the same on all vehicles.

My problem is that there is water in the exhaust. If I idle my truck in my parking lot for a few minutes, I note a water spot under the exhaust outlet (It points downward), and also at the rear end of the middle muffler too!

This tells me that there is a good deal of water sitting insiude of the center muffler. There are no designed holes in it, nor is it rusted or showing signs of failure. Some point in the welding must have a small weep hole that I dont see.

My question is, would it be OK to put a very small hole in the rearward, low end side of each muffler? Would there be a problem, doing this to the center muffler, since there is a pipe in and out, and it does not go directly to ambient pressure (causing essentially an unwanted leak)?

Ive heard of people putting holes to keep water out. I think it may be beneficial in this situation, but I dont want to ruin anything. That said, highway driving at full temperature does not seem to be doing enough anyway.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

JMH

 

[Gary Allan]

This was a recommended thing when I was in auto school (70's). Many replacement mufflers had the drip hole built in. I wouldn't have any reservations doing this myself. Others will perhaps scream the sky is falling ...but in many states you don't even have to have the exhaust exit from under the vehicle ..and it only has to extend behind the cab. That is, I don't see any safety liability to it.

 

[ZR2RANDO]

That muffler has a weep hole "built-in". It will clog eventually with carbon but a paper clip wire will clear it..It is put there on purpose to let the water drip out. Water is a normal combustion process product. As the exhaust heats up it just comes out as vapor rather than liquid.
This is one reason why short trips kill exhaust systems...the liquid water never gets dried out on those short trips. Long trips are good, for the engine and exhaust both.
I wouldn't recommend drilling any holes to do it though- you'll expose the metal and it will corrode faster...exhaust system is coated(aluminum) as it is now.

Your good to go dude!

 

[pitzel]

I personally kill the engine the minute i set the parking brake. None of that idling at startup or shutdown for me.

Saves petrol and mechanical wear as well. Only good reason to idle before shutdown is if you have a turbocharger and have exposed it to high EGTs.

 

[JHZR2]

I too are very much against idling at either end. But when I do an oil change, for example, I like to run it for about a minute to ensure no leaks... then voila, water puddle...

JMH

 

[Eddie]

I check all my mufflers and if there is no weep hole I drill one. I use a 1/16" drill and put it at the lowest rear of the muffler. Dont confuse the cat converter with the muffler though. ed