I have a 2001 Honda Accord and I just noticed what appears to be antifreeze dripping from a part of the exhaust system. I did not see any leaks around the radiator. I'm not even really sure what the part of the exhaust that is leaking is called, so I included some pics to point it out. The first pic is from the side. The second pic is from the rear. What could be the issue? Thanks.
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Welcome to Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair!– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦Commented Jan 24, 2022 at 23:57
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You could end the guessing and taste it , antifreeze is sweet. Do not drink it, it is poison. Just touch a drop to your tongue and spit it out. Rinse if you want to be politically correct. It has not killed me.– blacksmith37Commented Jan 28, 2022 at 15:16
2 Answers
Are you sure it's antifreeze? It could very well be condensation being collected within the resonator (most likely the forward part of the exhaust you showed) and the muffler (rear part you showed). There's a lot of water in the exhaust as it flows out of the engine (part of the combustion process). When the exhaust piping is cold and the engine first starts up, a lot of the water which comes out of the engine as vapor, condenses onto the cold piping. This collects and can drip, if it finds a way out. If the liquid which is dripping out is not colored at all, I'd suggest this is what you're experiencing.
If the fluid dripping out has color to it, like blue (original Honda coolant is blue) or green (very common antifreeze color) or even yellow, red, or pink ... you might have an internal head gasket leak which could be coming out through the tail pipe.
Why is it dripping where it's at (you might ask)? This usually indicates the muffler/resonator is on its way out. Most likely rusting from the inside. Either that or there was a loose seam from the factory (whatever factory that might have been) which is allowing it to drip.
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Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately, the fluid is yellow, the same color as the antifreeze I put in a while ago. If it's a head gasket leak, can I still drive it until I get it fixed? Commented Jan 25, 2022 at 0:23
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@user3080392 - That's completely up to you. The leak is only going to get worse. If you keep up on the antifreeze, you could possibly get away with it, but I personally wouldn't recommend it. PS: The reason why I was wondering about the color of the liquid was I didn't see any color manifested in the image.– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦Commented Jan 25, 2022 at 0:25
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1It seemed to stop dripping once I turned off my car, so it didn't show up in the pics. It was dripping on snow though, so I could see it was a yellowish green color. Yeah, I'm thinking I'd better get it checked and fixed and not drive too much on it. Commented Jan 25, 2022 at 0:29
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@user3080392, it could very well be anti-freeze, it could also be yellow because of rust and deposits. Anti-freeze evaporates much slower than water, has an oily feel, and of course doesn't freeze at the same temperature as water. You want to be certain before you commit to an expensive repair.– GdDCommented Jan 25, 2022 at 9:21
If you're certain it's coolant, please test for blown head gasket with this tool: https://www.amazon.com/Block-Tester-BT-500-Combustion-Leak/dp/B06VVBSFTF/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3KY95ZNLODVT7&keywords=head+gasket+test&qid=1643073555&sprefix=head+gasket+tes%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-8
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1@Chenmunka - I disagree with your spam assessment. While this is a "link only answer", it does point to something which would be useful in this situation, and I'm sure this user is not affiliated with Amazon or the tester being shown. Not necessarily a "good" answer, but I wouldn't call it spam.– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦Commented Jan 25, 2022 at 13:43
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Thank you paulster2. I am not a spammer and the flagging is uncalled for.– VmroFan1Commented Jan 26, 2022 at 4:24