Notable Soot Deposit in Exhaust

[Shiseiji]

After reading through some posts I guess my 23.1 mpg in the city is average. Poor baby hardly warms up on the daily drive to work, so I am not too surprised at the soot but wanted to ask about other's observations. Nothing visible in the exhaust gas so it probably isn't a major fuel system malfunction. Planning on the Seafoam treatment through the PCV hose soon.

 

I read where a member did a coil and plug change @ 75k. I have 56k but am wondering if maybe I should go ahead to see if that helps. Realized I am going to have to plan a weekly high speed run just to keep the catalytic from premature failure

[FAST060]

I run BLUR hard EVERYDAY! High RPMS keep her out of the Service Bay, for the most part. I had to learn that the hard way.

 

Open that MINI up!:motor:

[TGGRRR (Ali)]

I run Tigger pretty hard, but I can see my new exhaust is covered in soot. I'm not sure what causes it. After getting the new exhaust my mpg did go up a bit. It used to be when I was driving average city miles that my mpg was always just below my average mph. So if I averaged 21 mph I would get 20 mpg. That now switched and my mpg is a tad above so if I'm averaging 21 mpg I'm getting about 21.7 or 22 mpg.

 

The exhaust tips, totally black on the inside and the exhaust is less then a month old.

[OXSpeed]

I run BLUR hard EVERYDAY! High RPMS keep her out of the Service Bay, for the most part. I had to learn that the hard way.

 

Open that MINI up!:motor:

 

What he said. best thing you can do beside change your oil more often then recommended

[Poison Ivy]

What he said. best thing you can do beside change your oil more often then recommended

 

Or she...

[OXSpeed]

lol whoops sorry

[TGGRRR (Ali)]

What he said. best thing you can do beside change your oil more often then recommended

 

I change the oil every 5,000 miles. When I got the new exhaust the inside of the tips were black in 3 weeks. does that seem normal?

[OXSpeed]

yup. dinasour bones are dirty when they burn. unfortunately your only option is to clean them.

 

BTW we haven't forgotten about your tuning question were putting something together for you

[TGGRRR (Ali)]

yup. dinasour bones are dirty when they burn. unfortunately your only option is to clean them.

 

BTW we haven't forgotten about your tuning question were putting something together for you

 

I actually like em dirty, they make Tigger look tough. I just wanted to be sure it doesn't mean there's something wrong

[Shiseiji]

Thanks so much everyone. Insane week, hope no one felt their reply was in vain.

 

So far "she" has a title, not a name (heresy I know): "The MINI."

 

Soot "generally" implies an incomplete burn/wasted gas. But that is also "usually" seen with black smoke, white being oil burning. Back in my old air cooled VW days one wanted soot as the fuel was a critical part of the cooling. Nice white exhaust tips soon equaled burned exhaust valves. LOL, that was also when one could lean out the idle, change jets, or check for carb body wear. Showing my age . . .

 

Those of you who got new exhaust systems, did that include the catalytic? I know from experience performance will really drop off when they get clogged, another reason for watching the buildup in the exhaust. And obviously many will notice the difference when they are replaced.

[TGGRRR (Ali)]

Thanks so much everyone. Insane week, hope no one felt their reply was in vain.

 

So far "she" has a title, not a name (heresy I know): "The MINI."

 

Soot "generally" implies an incomplete burn/wasted gas. But that is also "usually" seen with black smoke, white being oil burning. Back in my old air cooled VW days one wanted soot as the fuel was a critical part of the cooling. Nice white exhaust tips soon equaled burned exhaust valves. LOL, that was also when one could lean out the idle, change jets, or check for carb body wear. Showing my age . . .

 

Those of you who got new exhaust systems, did that include the catalytic? I know from experience performance will really drop off when they get clogged, another reason for watching the buildup in the exhaust. And obviously many will notice the difference when they are replaced.

 

 

I got a Cat Back, so I believe that's all behind the catalytic converter.

[Shiseiji]

Yep. My '98 Explorer went well over 100k before I had to change the cats. Unless this soot deal turns out to be something bad for the cat, I expect the MINI will do at least that as I believe they are required to for all the emissions devices except, IIFC, the EGR valve.

 

R

[cmcveay]

The soot is actually a little bit fuel and a little bit oil.

 

Yep, you have your original catalytic converter Ali. That's why it's called a "Cat back" exhaust. I don't think any of the aftermarket exhausts, even the turbo back models include don't have cats.

[RichSperry]

Well.... Sort of.

 

With the R56, (non JCW) all of the turbo back exhausts do away with the second cat in the middle of the car.'

 

The JCW didn't have one from the factory.

 

The soot is normal for a forced induction car. Tuners keep the AFR lower when the cylinder pressures are highest to prevent detonation and help keep things cool in there.

 

The last thing you want is to run lean at max loading. Melted pistons, broken rings, distroyed bearings are no fun.