I recently changed a couple coils due to error codes and noticed water in the plug housing. I tried to dry it out best I could but then it's now coming out of the exhaust. Additionally, it's running rough and burning gas at an alarming rate. I been having this issue for some time and even took it to the dealer. It ran good for a couple months and started having pretty much the same issues. Any ideas.?

 

water or antifreeze?

 

that's a good question...It doesn't appear to be antifreeze. Is there a difference?

 

Antifreeze would come from the cooling system.
Water would come from rain, snow melt, car wash etc.

 

The catalytic converters in the exhaust system turn exhaust hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide and H2O (water). So, if the liquid is clear coming out the exhaust, it may just be the converters doing their job. Coolant has a very sweet and distinctive smell. If you have a lot of hydrocarbons due to a rough run condition, the converters may be working overtime and creating a lot of water. Try and get the rough run condition fixed ASAP, as the converters can get clogged, and then they need to be replaced. They are expensive. Probably more expensive than fixing the rough run condition. Hope this helps...

 

but would that explain

 

OK, so you said you had water in the plug housing. If it was straight water, probably from car wash, rain, etc. If you had coolant, that would be from a heater or by-pass hose. Both run along the intake manifold and have caused coil failures on the 5.4L. You also said you have water coming out the exhaust, that is why I brought up the converters. You say it is running rough and burning up fuel. Just because the check engine light is not on, does not mean there are no codes. Get it somewhere and get a code reader on it. You could have a bad injector that is stuck open. If you do, it could hydraulic your engine. I have seen it happen before. Sounds like something is making it run rich, which could also cause your converters to fail. First stop is to a shop that can diagnose the rough run condition. I think the water coming out the exhaust is just a by-product of the converters doing their job. Hope this helps...

 

thanks for the advice...makes sense to me. I'm gonna go get a diagnostic and go from there.