"sooty" exhaust?

[what the...]

Does anyone else get lots of soot in their exhaust? It's like this faint blak film that gets on the rear of my car from the exhaust. I have been getting some on my lude, and I know other people get it from running rich. I just recently had my VAFC retuned. Is it possible that the previous settings on the VAFC could have been causing my engine to run rich enough so as to cause this soot? Or is this just what cat back systems do?

[LostSolVTEC]

my buddy got that on his civic but only because he ran with no cat, if u have a cat then i don't know what it could be

[Coletrain25]

If you were running rich thats a big contributer to the soot in the exhaust, but now you've gotten you VAFC retuned you should be fine. Give it about a week and see if you have anymore soot build up, and if not problem solved.

[mike_sho]

Theres probably a lot of build-up in the exhaust system. Run the car hard and it should clear it out some. Nothing you can really do , if theres a ton of build up , could be awhile before it goes away. If ever.

You can run some carbon cleaner to help push it through as well as any other gunk through the engine.

Ill have to repost my article on that.

[IntegraXTR]

i think all bumpers are prone to get really dirty with our exhausts..nothing to worry about...just gotta wipe it down a few times every so often so it doesn't build up..

my friend's 240s look like their bumpers have been bbq'd at times...so dirty..but not bad enuff to stain haha..

there's blocker plates for your bumper...kinda ricey but in JDM land they use it..i believe J's racing has a plate...and Cusco...

[what the...]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I'll wash the car this weekend and see if it builds up as quick. Hey mike, is there a particular brand name of carbon cleaner you'd recommend? I've never heard of the stuff. Is it something you put in the gas tank like MI3000?

[mike_sho]

You run it through any intake manifold hose. Normally try to be as close to the intake itself to get the intake manifold more , closer in to not get it.

Some hit the left and right to make sure it gets both chambers. You can also draw it straight through the throttle body , but that takes awhile and doesnt really soak it.

The brand I used and kinda got a lot of people knowing. Was Sea Foam. Its kinda hard to locate. Im pretty sure autozone or napa have it and I havent seen a napa in a while. 2 of them closed down in my area.

[h22lude]

do you have a white prelude? My car gets carbon all over herself, thats all it is. its just part of the fun. nothing you can really do, just wash it

[RunninSOHC]

Use Sea Foam it works well and will fog out your block at the same time. Use it and let us know how it worked

[what the...]

the sea-foam website says to pour it through the PCV valve at idle to help cure carbon build up. At the risk of sounding like a dumbass, what is my PCV valve and where is it located? Possible pics?

[UltraMagneticAL]

word sea foam is the official accord forum's fix for all types of buildup in the intake area. we've had reports of sea foam fixing stuck throttle butterflies, clearing up the carbon deposits on the valves, intake manifold, etc.