Steve2424

I was washing my car this past Saturday and was giving it a real deal nook and crannie few times over and came to my exhaust tips. While cleaning them (also used an engine degreaser for whatever build up of soot dirties them) I noticed a small clump on my driver's side exhaust tip. The engine degreaser barely broke it up, and I had a wire tough bristled brush to scrub it off to no avail. Is this a sign of something? My other tip was easier to clean and had no build up of any sorts, and while both are clean, my driver's side one still has a small clump of dirt on it.

I do notice that in between washes -- about 2 weeks to a month in the warmers months -- the tips do get heavily dirty/dusty. I had tried to clean this particular clump off before and assumed it was just a tougher amount of dirt to get off, but it just won't break up lol. Just wondering if this is cause for any concern?

warandcar

was it on the underside/outside of the tip? i noticed it too and found it was pieces of concrete stuck with tar from new construction of the freeway….let us know

Steve2424

The clump in question is on the top of the exhaust tip. Maybe it's the same thing you said being concrete or some road work material. I do notice that they get very dirty in between washes and was curious if that meant anything about the car itself -- running rich, carbon issue, etc. I have no check engine lights, and just did my inspection a few weeks ago.

Gotcha350

It's normal to have black exhaust tips...clean them up and enjoy them being clean for 2 days...lol

LexusLadi

I was going to say that this is so typical and that everyone gets these. Its not just you. There's so much crud we drive over which gets thrown up onto our bumpers and tail pipes on daily basis. Its laughable to a extent because they get so dirty so quickly, almost like what's the point of cleaning it!? Especially when you get road tar on there and sticks to your hot exhaust it almost makes a permanent molecular bond and impossible to get off without damaging or scratching anything.

Steve2424

I guess soo. NY roads are terrible and have been only getting worse. Happy it's not a subliminal message that something is wrong with the car causing this lol

BinaryJay

You probably drove over a freshly repaired pothole and got a clumb of asphalt caked on, nothing you can do about it really. You can try soaking a towel in degreaser and tying it on and leaving it to work for as long as the rag will stay wet and it might help.

But you'll just get dirty again so I say ignore it.

warandcar

for mine i scrape it with a sharp blade which pops off the big chunks… then use a stainless polish so it won't stick so well next time...