Noticed something worrying today, when accelerating on the motorway today at around 70 I noticed a mist from the rear that I needed to clear from the rear screen. It must of been water as there was no smearing when it was cleared by the rear wiper. Car booked in on Monday to be looked at, but has anyone else had something like this?

I had this on an old Peugeot.

 

One of the radiator pipes had split and it was loosing coolant - fast.

 

Luckily I spotted the mist on the rear window and the rapidly increasing temperature gauge and pulled over before cooking the engine.

 

Have you checked the coolant reservoir under the bonnet?

Check your coolant level regularly. If it is enough to cause a visible mist, you are leaking a lot of fluid, so avoid driving till you know what it is.

When you have a chance, perhaps check the coolant, then run the engine while checking (from the side) underneath for drips.

Be aware, if you're out of coolant there is a chance that the coolant temp sensor will not register the engine overheating so maybe have your oil temp indicator up.

It could also be your rear window washer acting up...

Edited 15 March, 201610 yr by hobbie2k

Coolant level fine smack between min and max, water and oil temps were 90 and 100 so nothing out of the ordinary will see what Skoda say on Monday, they have it for Tuesday as well just in case.

Edited 15 March, 201610 yr by sturgi

In for the Skoda reply. Want to see what they tell you, cause I noted the same. My guess is that it is some condensation or something like that.

Was it rainy? If you look at the way the exhausts are "engineered", you will notice there is a bit of a back between the actual exhaust pipe and the decorative shaped thingies that are under the bumper.

I am willing to bet that during driving water or humidity accumulates there and when you accelerate hard, it is enough to blow it away and produce this mist.

No rain and had been dry for about 4 days, also had been driving for about 45 mins on mixture of A and B roads as well as the motorway before the overtaking acceleration where the mist was created. I did wonder if it could of been condensation or water trapped somewhere but when it happened again twice I eased off any sudden acceleration. Mystery until Skoda get the car Monday with very little use from now on.

I get this too, always have had, mostly when cold.  Once the car has warmed up and the exhaust temps burn off the excess vapours then its all clear.

It'll just be an accumulation of moisture in the exhaust that gets blown out / evaporated off when temps build up.

But would moisture still be in the exhaust after 45 mins of driving? I had been on the road for that length of time so everything nicely warmed up?

My last three cars (all had twin exhausts out the back) have done this, thought its pretty normal, moisture from the exhaust. Only happens when you put your foot down.

I get this as well, exactly the same, can happen after 45 minutes of driving on hard acceleration, usually in cooler weather

I get this all the time on my VRS combi. Has done it since new and that was two years and 14k ago. Never used any oil or water. It's just to do with the way the air moves around the rear window and pulls up the hot moisture rich exhaust gases over the cold glass.

I had something similar on my TDI the other day, had been on motorway for over an hour but cruising but got a mist of steam when I put foot down / during kick down to pass a lorry before getting trapped with cars in outside lane.

 

Guessing as other say, sudden 'shot' of exhaust gases blew residual damp out.

Edited 16 March, 201610 yr by Exeterj

I get it too and was under the impression it's quite normal.  Clears away after a few seconds.

 

Gaz

I will still get Skoda to look at it, my previous car a Subaru Legacy with twin exhausts never misted like my car did yesterday and to be honest not noticed it before in the year of ownership. Will update next week.

My vRS (TSi) also does this, quite worrying the first time. Obviously I'm used to a cloud with diesels but not petrol.

Can't say I noticed on a warm day.

I get it with my TSI VRS estate - really noticeable on cold and damp mornings going from 50 to the national speed limit on the way out of London. Clears all of the water out of the exhaust system. I guess its a long run, not highly utilised at low revs, and therefore prone to condensation internally.

 

p.s. car doesn't use oil or water.

Edited 17 March, 201610 yr by London Les

Mine does this. It is condensation within the exhaust system and absolutely nothing to worry about.

I noticed this today for the first time, it was 6 degrees, it came and went. I was quite worried for a minute I thought it was oil, but no smell, somthing I'm going to keep an eye on. Could be regenerating the dpf and it's running rich? Hence the haze, As the idle was 1000 rpm.

Edited 17 March, 201610 yr by Alpha2110