Jayce Foust

Hey guys, been noticing most start ups on my ‘01 Cherokee it seems to spit a bit of oil out the tailpipe. No clue what could cause this and would like to know if it is by any means bad or causing damage somewhere.

tech

How's the engine run ? is it misfiring ? is there any noise ? is it also smoking? need to know .

country2

You sure its oil and not water vapor

Jayce Foust

Runs normal, no misfire, quiet, no smoke

Jayce Foust

It looks an awful lot like oil, can see it on the ground if you look back there

IJM

Hmmm... Stick your finger in there and rub them together. Does it still feel like oil, or is it water condensate with soot in it making it look black?

country2

Lick it!

tech

I'm with country2 and IJM , I think it's ok

fb97xj1

Could be carbon (exhaust) mixed with water (condensation). It can look like oil, but its not. If it IS oil, youre going to need new cats. If oil is making its way out the tailpipe, how much of is coating the cats? The 02 sensors wont be happy, either.

IJM

If unburned oil is making its way to the tailpipe, he's got bigger problems than fried cats (though I agree on the overall point).

shelby987

Rub it between your fingers,if it drys it is just water vapor and carbon. If it leaves a greasy film....it is oil.

Is the jeep losing any oil between oil changes? If you don't see smoke on start-up (i.e. grey/white fog that extends beyond the tailpipe, more like above the rear window) it probably isn't oil. If you do....try a high mileage oil to try and swell up your valve stem seals a bit. A good top end flush with seafoam or MMO soak through the spark plug holes, or an oil flush might help unstick a piston ring too.

Jayce Foust

Completely forgot I had this post up. Some of you have said it's water condensate and soot is mixing with it and yeah. Just that

RocketMouse

did you ever lick it to determine that? LOL.. just kidding... yeah... what you saw is actually pretty common. But never hurts to check.