Just changed my radiator and I have water coming from my tail pipe...

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gw636 - 23 Mar 2006 00:21 GMT

Hello Group! I have 1989 Thunderbird with the infamous 3.8L V6 engines.
About a month ago I attempted to flush my radiator due to my car
overheating and not trying to blow the head gasket. The radiator was
clogged badly. So I got a brand new radiator for $80 and installed it
today. After I got it in and fired it up, I noticed a lot of water
coming from my tail pipe. So, I took it for a test run, still drips but
not as bad as it first did. Now, I've been told that water from the
tail pipe is normal. Should I go with the info I've gotten or do I need
to dig deeper into it all to find the cause. I know that my Tbird is
prone to blow head gaskets, new radiator is a temp fix until I can
afford one of those nice 4.6L V8's for it. Or could it be the water
pump, and if it is the cause, why? I just changed it 13 months ago when
I purchased it with a Motorcraft water pump. Please help!

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ihcnut - 23 Mar 2006 00:32 GMT

Your water pump is fine. Water coming out of the tail pipe is normal when
starting a cold engine, the water is from condensation in the muffler and
tail pipe because it is colder than the exhaust going thru it. After the
engine warms up to operating temperature, the water should not continue to
come out. Is the weather real cold? If so, it may continue longer.

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gw636 - 23 Mar 2006 00:48 GMT

Thank you for the info. No cold weather in sunny Florida. The only
other thing I can think of is that due to the radiator not being able
to drain properly, I disconnected the lower hose to flush the radiator.
I just got back from checking all the fluids and she is running great!

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Bob Urz - 23 Mar 2006 04:30 GMT

> Hello Group! I have 1989 Thunderbird with the infamous 3.8L V6 engines.
> About a month ago I attempted to flush my radiator due to my car
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> pump, and if it is the cause, why? I just changed it 13 months ago when
> I purchased it with a Motorcraft water pump. Please help!

Maybe your radiator failed because of the bad head gaskets.
I would pull your sparkplugs and look for one that is too
clean compared to the rest. Then you have your answer.

Bob

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RT - 24 Mar 2006 22:53 GMT

>Hello Group! I have 1989 Thunderbird with the infamous 3.8L V6 engines.
>About a month ago I attempted to flush my radiator due to my car
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>pump, and if it is the cause, why? I just changed it 13 months ago when
>I purchased it with a Motorcraft water pump. Please help!

This is normal. Just keep an eye on the coolant level. Even if you DID
have a leak in your cooling system, it would not come out as water but
come out as steam.

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