Car problems

republic of me

I recently purchased a 2004 Mitsubishi Carisma Mirage 1.9 DID for my younger brother and everything is fine with it, it has a good engine plenty of power (haven't rely tried out the speed on it yet) but the only problem is my mother told me today that when it was pulling out of the yard she noticed raw diesel coming out of the exhaust. Any car i ever had was petrol so i don't know what this could be but can anyone tell me whats wrong with it if anything is wrong with it?
Also an unrelated car question does anyone know anywhere i can get white leather seat covers to fit a 7 seat MPV?

The Crowing One

Is there a leak or not? That's step one.

Chanus

Could be a leak, could be your system is "running rich", meaning too much fuel is being injected, so it doesn't have a chance to burn all of it off.

I would take it to a mechanic.

EggyToast

How did your mother know it was raw diesel?

MushroomStick

Is she sure it wasn't just water?

Chanus

Yeah, caveat: Make sure it's fuel and not water.

If it's water, it's less of a big deal. I've only been to Ireland in the winter (assuming that's where you are), so I'm not terribly familiar with the climate in summer, but if it's humid, that could be part of the cause... it's also a natural by-product of combustion, so nothing really to worry about... it may eventually cause rust in your exhaust system, but that's in terms of years.

Donovan Puppyfucker

It was probably water condensation. Diesels do this worse than petrol motors, because the exhaust is hotter, so you get more thermal reaction in the (cool) morning.

If your engine was running too rich, you wouldn't get diesel trickling from the exhaust, you'd get black smoke pumping out.

republic of me

Well im not sure what it is but i cant send it into the mechanic until next week because my own car is in there already for the NCT test (like the MOT in the UK) and we have to share for the week because my boyfriend needs to borrow my mothers car to get to work because the police impounded his (he hadnt paid his car tax) so if i send that one in the rest of us are without transport for the week. i have another car in the yard (a 2005 Toyota avinsis but i need to get the wheels fixed in it its my friends car and she left it in my yard until it passes its NCT and she gets the tax and insurance sorted because she lives in the city and it would be impounded trying to get the parts for it is difficult because none of them are stock parts) so i was hoping it was something i could fix myself. I have lots of parts from Mitsubishi cars because both myself and my mother always drive Mitsubishi cars and we sort most small things ourselves but i have never had this before because i always drive petrol. I hope it is just condensation.

Chanus

Just start the car and let it warm up... have someone hit the gas a couple times (or watch the tailpipe from a safe distance) and see what comes out... you'll be able to smell it if it's fuel and not water.

If it is water, it's no big deal.

Effef

Its water, condensation forms in the exhaust because its warm and full of moisture.

If the car is running, at no point will there ever be raw fuel leaking from the exhaust, especially in a compression ignition engine.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Effef wrote:

Its water, condensation forms in the exhaust because its warm and full of moisture.

If the car is running, at no point will there ever be raw fuel leaking from the exhaust, especially in a compression ignition engine.

Not for a diesel, no. But a badly-tuned petrol engine can easily have fuel literally dripping out of the exhaust, I've seen it in other cars and even done it myself (on purpose, of course). But I digress...

OP, don't worry about it. Your car is fine.

republic of me

thank you for the good advice i wont worry about it so. it doesnt sound too bad.