Exhaust Cleaning

Hello everyone! Your friendly neighborhood newbie here lol.

Today, in celebration of the first day of spring (finally)! I did a full detail on my daily driver. I`ve never cleaned the exhaust pipe, but read a couple forums here, and YouTubed it. I gently rinsed the pipe with my garden hose, no nozzle or pressure, sprayed APC directly to the pipe and on the wheel wand. After scrubbing, there wasn`t much difference. The APC is diluted 3:1. Any suggestions for next time?

More importantly, the videos I watched showed water pouring out. I only stuck the hose about 3 inches inside the pipe, rinsed for 15 seconds or so, and IMO, water did come out but not too much. The car was in my driveway which is flat-ish. I also did not drive the car, except to move it back into the garage. Should I be concerned or am I just being paranoid lol. Thanks!

Are you talking about interior exhaust pipe or tips?

If your car starts, then the water didn’t get into the engine, which would be bad. Otherwise any water in the exhaust system would evaporate in your next (long) drive.

Is the exhaust tip a chrome or stainless steel tip or something like that ? There are specific metal cleaners/polishes in tubes made for cleaning those shiny tips..
Or is it just a plain, steel exhaust pipe??

Either way, I would NEVER stick a running water hose up an exhaust pipe... You don`t water getting to the muffler and hanging around inside it..
Yes, it is possible to get most of it back out if it gets that far, by driving the car long enough to get the exhaust passing through the muffler to dry the water out, but why would you ever want to do that?
You just don`t need to do it to rinse the end of the pipe off...
Look at what you are doing... Is all the soap gone??? Stop rinsing...
Dan F

Go to autozone or order some mothers mag and aluminum polish. Buff with a crappy MF towel.


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Originally Posted by Coatings=crack

Go to autozone or order some mothers mag and aluminum polish. Buff with a crappy MF towel.

Or order some p21s polishing soap.


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Originally Posted by William_Wallace

Are you talking about interior exhaust pipe or tips?

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Uhhh... lol I`m guessing the interior exhaust pipe. I bought the car used from the dealership, and it doesn`t have a fancy tip or anything, and I didn`t add one. I was just concerned about the water and surprised it didn`t clean much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stokdgs

Is the exhaust tip a chrome or stainless steel tip or something like that ? There are specific metal cleaners/polishes in tubes made for cleaning those shiny tips..
Or is it just a plain, steel exhaust pipe??

Either way, I would NEVER stick a running water hose up an exhaust pipe... You don`t water getting to the muffler and hanging around inside it..
Yes, it is possible to get most of it back out if it gets that far, by driving the car long enough to get the exhaust passing through the muffler to dry the water out, but why would you ever want to do that?
You just don`t need to do it to rinse the end of the pipe off...
Look at what you are doing... Is all the soap gone??? Stop rinsing...
Dan F

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It`s not a chrome tip, and I think it`s not a stainless steel one. It`s just a standard pipe that came with the car. I bought it used from the dealership, & I doubt they`d add one on, but I crawled under and it doesn`t look like anything was added or slipped on.

Yea, I had watched a youtube video from another brand (not sure if we`re allowed to say competitors here...but they`re REALLY into graphene coating right now in Colorado ; ) and he sprayed water from the hose a couple inches up the pipe.

I just got a bit too excited lol, but hopefully since it started after, it`s fine. I didn`t drive it far, just pulled it back inside the garage.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chas09

It`s not a chrome tip, and I think it`s not a stainless steel one. It`s just a standard pipe that came with the car. I bought it used from the dealership, & I doubt they`d add one on, but I crawled under and it doesn`t look like anything was added or slipped on.

Yea, I had watched a youtube video from another brand (not sure if we`re allowed to say competitors here...but they`re REALLY into graphene coating right now in Colorado ; ) and he sprayed water from the hose a couple inches up the pipe.

I just got a bit too excited lol, but hopefully since it started after, it`s fine. I didn`t drive it far, just pulled it back inside the garage.

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Ok to mention competitors and products just not promote them or start individual threads about them.

You talking about Eve’s husband?


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Drive it for 15 minutes or longer and the temps in the pipe and muffler will boil any water out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Coatings=crack

Ok to mention competitors and products just not promote them or start individual threads about them.

You talking about Eve’s husband?


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Yes, yes I am lol. That guy. His video had him spraying water right up the pipe. Luckily, just drove it for awhile today, doesn`t seem to have any issues. Thanks so much!

As far as spraying water from a hose into your exhaust tips, i suppose if you "limit" the amount from the spray nozzle, you might be OK. I personally just do not see that as being a good detailing choice. BUT as others have suggested above you should be fine if you start and run the vehicle immediately to have the engine exhaust heat evaporate the excess water out.


Interesting true story about spraying water up a tail pipe:I saw a youngster washing his parent`s car in their driveway while I was walking through my neighborhood. This young person did exactly that: took the hose-n-nozzle and directed it up the tail pipe not in a short burst, but for some time. I hollered at the youngster to "STOP" which he did and then knocked on the door of the house to inform the vehicle owner what was going on. The person who came to the door looked rather upset that I would holler at his child after explaining what was done and why I thought it was not a good idea. The kid was only trying to help clean the vehicle to the best his limited knowledge. This was probably the same youngster who was about to take Comet cleanser and a Brillo pad to remove the bugs from the front of the car. Good intent, bad results. Ignorance is bliss, but what you do not know may kill you (or damage the engine in you car).

As far as cleaning the INSIDE of exhaust tips, I use 3M 000 Synthetic Steel Wool (Yes, they do make such a product) and chrome cleaner OR Meg`s M105 Compound and a lot of "elbow grease" to rub/abrade/scrub them out. I then use Optimum Polymer Technologies` Metal Polish for the final cleaning and polishing (my go-to preference for chromed or stainless tips)

Someone within this forum suggested using oven or grill cleaner spray (It is burned carbon from food, but not petroleum products) to clean the inside of exhaust tips, but I have never tried it.
I also have some pre-VOC era aerosol cans from Ford Parts and Service (Ford Part No. D9AZ-19579-A) for cleaning out cylinder heads to remove the carbon in the combustion chamber, but I have seldom used it.

I know Pinnacle makes a specialized cleaner for exhaust tips: (reference: https://www.autopia-carcare.com/pin-...l#.YFnTFVVKj3g) and the P21S Soap would be excellent choices for exhaust tips cleaning.