All Subarus I have seen (and some cars of other brands) tend to collect some black (I guess it is carbon) stuff around the exhaust pipe.
But majority, even big truks have them just clean.
Anybody know why is that?
A.
Hi,
My Subie's been "sooty" at the tail pipe since I got it at 209k miles (still the same at 360k when it died), as was my Toyota truck (stolen at
136k.) My Camry is absolutely clean at 232k (rub a finger inside the pipe and you don't even get a smudge.) Back in pre-smog days we'd have said the sooty ones were running too rich, but nothing I've been told about this "syndrome" really makes sense today, especially when the vehicles run thru smog inspection: the Subie barely registers on most scales they test for despite the fact it was burning a quart of oil in 400 miles at the last test, the Toy truck registered about as close to zero as possible on all scales, yet the Camry is listed as a "borderline polluter" or some such by the State of California cuz it's come in right at the limit for one item twice after failing once. Guy at the smog station says that's an indication the cat's probably on its way out.So I quit worrying or even trying to figure this one out!
Rick
Just guessing here... I think the soot around the tailpipe is because of air flow there. If there is no easy way for air to flow past the exhaust pipe the exhaust will swirl back and make a mess. I suppose you could clean it off and experiment with little deflectors under the body around the pipe to scoop some of the air past the exhaust. It shouldn't take much. There might even be a market for a simple solution :-)
Mike
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