exhaust smoke in the cold

[bmwmike]

aright that sounds retarded at first but if you live somewhere that gets pretty cold, you'll notice when you first start to drive you can see your exhaust. Once the cars engine has warmed up, even if its below 0, you can no longer see the exhaust unless your at wot. My question, is why can I see my exhaust in the cold when the car has warmed up. Does that mean its running rich or something?

[Old'n'Slow]

I think it has to do with ambient relative humidity. Notice what the dew point is and see if it correlates with the appearance of visible emissions. Dry air=invisible warmed up exhaust. Air at or near saturation=visible exhaust.

[bmwmike]

but once my car has warmed up, it seems like 90% of the cars driving you cant see their exhaust, and you can see mine

[BahnE30]

it's moisture in your exhaust, as your car warms up it blows the moisture build up out... how long have you driven before you consider warmed up?

[MrK]

Well at least you're sure the car's not running lean. Lean = bad. So unless the smoke is suffocating, you're good to go.

[equate975]

Just put a potato in it :) no more exhaust smoke!

where are you in MN?

Im down in rochester

[CGDoig]

it doesn't mean anything. Until the car is completly warmed up and driven for a good 15 mins you'll be able to see it.