[EagerCrow]

My 83zxt Burns coolant, but only when it is cold. When I step on the gas the stuff billows out of my tail pipe. Once the car warms up this goes away. I checked my compression, which seems ok; 125psi (dry) on all 6. I don't think it's the gasket or a crack because then it would burn coolant all the time.....right? Now this all started after I fixed a vacuum problem, and I know I fixed the problem correctly because I followed the Vacuum diagram I have and now my cruise and egr work again.

Thanks for all the help.
Josh

 

[yo2001]

may be just the condensation in the muffler

 

[luggnut73]

Crow, Is the engine using coolent or is trhere just steam exiting the tail pipe upon cold startup? I cant help you with such little info. however if you are using coolent and it is actually exiting the tail pipe you may have a slight leak in the head gasket or if the engine has over heated it could have warped the head. As a stop gap, this worked on both my Z and Ford truck, get some Block Seal, that spicific brand and follow the directions the stuff really works and wont clog the rad or any thing else. Good luck Gary Portland Or.

 

[Son of Magni]

How do you know that what you see is coolant, can you smell it?
How do you know it stops when warmed up, does the smell go away?
There's two possibilities, one is that as the engine warms up, the expansion helps slow the leak. The other is that with a cold exhaust, the coolant condenses into droplets in the exhaust system making it easy to smell and see. After it's warmed up it stays in the form of a gas.

Oh, I just thought of something important. Your engine is warm and coolant system is pressurized, then you shut off the car. Coolant is slowly forced in to one or more cylinders. Later you start the car and it all blows out. After that, the leak is too small to detect the fumes.

Now, start with a cold engine, and turn the radiator cap 1/4 turn so it can't pressurize the system. Now drive the car 'till it's fully warmed up. Go home and wait a few hours or overnight. If when you start it up the next day you see a lot less coming out the exhaust then I'm right.
SoM

 

[EagerCrow]

Well it looks the same as when you start a car in the cold winter mornings. Only about 100 times more. I started the car in the middle of the day (when it's in the 70's outside) and still had the problem so I know it's not just condensation. I've only over heated the engine once, and that was like a year ago, (no problems untill now).

I know it's not happenin once the car warms up because I can't see it. I let my car warm up for about 5-10 minutes before I drive it. It doesn't smell, but then again I'm not putting my head up the tail pipe (I've already killed enough brain cells don't need to go killing more)

It leaves the ground under the end of the pipe moist, (not a puddle, but like you misted it) Also if I hold my hand behind the pipe it gets sputtered on.

I'll try relieving the pressure and see how it is in the morning, and if that doesn't help I'll put some of that stop leak crap in there.

BTW, does coolant go through the intake manifold?, or anything like that, maybe I have bad vacuum when cold, or something crossed somewhere?

Thanks guys for the help,
Josh

 

[Stingray280zx]

Doesn't coolant become acidic when it leaks into combustion chamers? I read that in a text somewhere. But are you sure its coolant, is the level of coolant going down everynight? Well you probably are sure of whats happening. Maybe the head gasket corroded somewhere a little bit, so when its cold fluid is leaking, but when it warms up it expands just enough to cover the opening?

-Emir