EcoBoost and exhaust soot

[number1olddog]

I picked up my PP Lightning Blue EB about 3 months ago and recently swapped out the factory cat back with MBRP race cat back. I haven't had a newer vehicle since 09 and that was a jeep so with this being a 4 banger and newer vehicle has me scratching my head. There is a lot of black soot at the exhaust tip going back to the muffler when I shine my light in there. I cleaned out one pipe with a white shirt and the hole shirt was filthy. Is this normal with a ecoboost? My jeep did this a lot but it was a jeep and I didn't worry about it. It's not blowing out black smoke while I drive just noticed it recently when washing it and saw how much crap was building up in the exhaust tips.

Sponsored

 

[Buhbuhj]

These cars run rich, so yeah, that's perfectly normal.

 

[jbailer]

I picked up my PP Lightning Blue EB about 3 months ago and recently swapped out the factory cat back with MBRP race cat back. I haven't had a newer vehicle since 09 and that was a jeep so with this being a 4 banger and newer vehicle has me scratching my head. There is a lot of black soot at the exhaust tip going back to the muffler when I shine my light in there. I cleaned out one pipe with a white shirt and the hole shirt was filthy. Is this normal with a ecoboost? My jeep did this a lot but it was a jeep and I didn't worry about it. It's not blowing out black smoke while I drive just noticed it recently when washing it and saw how much crap was building up in the exhaust tips.

Unfortunately yes, it's normal. I have a Magnaflow exhaust with nice chrome tips that always look like crap because I can't keep that off them. Even once a week isn't enough if the car is driven often. I have yet to find a decent way to keep them clean.

 

[Chef jpd]

I used Jet Seal on the inside of my Magnaflow tips.
I get about 75% less soot that previously.

 

[sharp21]

Never heard of Jet Seal, might give that a try.

I was just planning to switch out for black tips. I've got a dedicated soot rag for the time being.

 

[jbailer]

I used Jet Seal on the inside of my Magnaflow tips.
I get about 75% less soot that previously.

Hmmm great idea. I never thought about a polymer. I have some jet seal in the garage too. Now I just have to try to clean that crap off. The couple times I tried to get all of it off haven't been very successful.

 

[ElAviator72]

I gave up the battle on my last car (Pontiac Sunfire GT) with keeping the exhaust tips shiny...I guess with my current car being Deep Impact Blue with the Performance Package, I haven't paid much attention to shiny ;-)

 

[ForYourOwnGood]

Hmmm great idea. I never thought about a polymer. I have some jet seal in the garage too. Now I just have to try to clean that crap off. The couple times I tried to get all of it off haven't been very successful.

I soak mine with wheel cleaner when I wash it, it comes off nicely like brake dust. Got in that habit with my Mazda, it was 400x worse than these cars. The whole back hatch would look like I was rolling coal

 

[jbailer]

I soak mine with wheel cleaner when I wash it, it comes off nicely like brake dust. Got in that habit with my Mazda, it was 400x worse than these cars. The whole back hatch would look like I was rolling coal

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. Is there any special wheel cleaner you found to work well?

 

[Berstuck]

Keep in mind wheel cleaners are harsh and will probably strip off your sealant. I'd think it's one or the other. I personally use Griot's heavy duty wheel cleaner, not sure what foryourowngood uses. The Griot's is some nasty shit, but it cleans brake dust off my BMW wheels, and nothing else does.

 

[jbailer]

Keep in mind wheel cleaners are harsh and will probably strip off your sealant. I'd think it's one or the other. I personally use Griot's heavy duty wheel cleaner, not sure what foryourowngood uses. The Griot's is some nasty shit, but it cleans brake dust off my BMW wheels, and nothing else does.

Thanks! That's a good point about the polymer sealant. It's been a while since I've used it but if I remember right, you're not even supposed to wash the surface with soap any more after applying. What I was thinking of doing is trying the wheel cleaner to get the baked in crap off. Then polish it up, then apply the sealant. If I still can't keep up with it, move to the constant wheel cleaner like mentioned.

 

[ForYourOwnGood]

I use some Eagle 1 stuff I got down the street at the auto parts store, nothing fancy.

 

[jbailer]

I couldn't find the Griot's wheel cleaner in the store but just happened to pick up the Eagle 1 out of the many to pick from before I saw your reply. I used that and some 000 steel wool to clean them. Then I used some chrome polish on them. Then I scrubbed them real good with alcohol. Then applied the Jet Seal. Thanks for the tips, I'll see how it goes. I've never had a car with this bad of an exhaust problem.

People say it's because it runs rich, not sure I buy that. Under normal load, it's running the way it should, close to stoichiometric value 14.7:1. Obviously under boost, it runs richer but so does every positive displacement vehicle. My supercharged o6 GT was tuned at 11.5:1 and I never had a problem with that.

 

[ForYourOwnGood]

I couldn't find the Griot's wheel cleaner in the store but just happened to pick up the Eagle 1 out of the many to pick from before I saw your reply. I used that and some 000 steel wool to clean them. Then I used some chrome polish on them. Then I scrubbed them real good with alcohol. Then applied the Jet Seal. Thanks for the tips, I'll see how it goes. I've never had a car with this bad of an exhaust problem.

People say it's because it runs rich, not sure I buy that. Under normal load, it's running the way it should, close to stoichiometric value 14.7:1. Obviously under boost, it runs richer but so does every positive displacement vehicle. My supercharged o6 GT was tuned at 11.5:1 and I never had a problem with that.

Yeah I used a greenie weenie and the eagle 1 to scrub the tips up, maybe next time I clean them I'll do the sealant.

These cars don't soot nearly as bad as the older DI turbo motors, BMW/Audi with the DI motors have the same issues and Mazda has it real bad.

 

[jbailer]

Yeah I used a greenie weenie and the eagle 1 to scrub the tips up, maybe next time I clean them I'll do the sealant.

These cars don't soot nearly as bad as the older DI turbo motors, BMW/Audi with the DI motors have the same issues and Mazda has it real bad.

Hmmm maybe something to do with DI then? This is the first 4 cylinder car I've had, let alone DI.

Sponsored