GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I have been noticing that the tailpipe on my Vibe tends to be pretty sooty. If I run my finger along the edge of it, you can see the bright shiny line left by my finger and my finger will have a good deal of soot on it. I looked at the tailpipe on my wife's Explorer and her tailpipe has virtually no soot on it. Could the fact that I run premium and she doesn't have anything to do with it or is a sooty tailpipe an indication of something like running rich?Jim

Is it inside the pipe or outside?

I never stuck my finger up my car's a&& so I coulnd't tell ya.LOL! Just kidding dude.Honestly, I have no clue...might just be part of break-in perhaps?

.Well.....Iv'e got almost 12,000 miles on my GT...so I don't think it is break in. I have just run my finger around the edge of the upgrade stainless tip but it does look like it is on the inside of the tip as well. I will look deeper tommorrow. Perhaps it is just because of the premium fuel....I don't know. I can always call the dealership....joy joy... Jim

I noticed the same thing on mine and other Vibes. I had an exhaust made up with a Hooker Aerochamber muffler, and a chrome Hooker tip (which rusted up so bad I took it off) which from the factory is painted red on the inside. The inside of the tip was so sooty within a day you couldn't see it had been red. The tip on my wife's Stratus R/T which is a couple years old isn't nearly as sooty. I'd rather have it running a little too rich than lean, but it does seem kind of odd.

Do you have a cat-back installed? often if you have an aftermarket exhaust and installed it w/ an exiting (e.g. old) gasket, a leak can produce "more" black stuff

Same here on my GT. Noticed it soon after I got it last year and it is still the same way now after 38K miles. Still bone stock - no modifications. I did ask the dealer about it early on w/o any response. Go figure. I have noticed that every GT I've seen has the same condition, where the Base Vibes are cleaner. Anybody know if this condition exists on the Matrix XRS or Celica GT-S (vehicles w/ the 2zz engines)?But one concern I've had is that since the soot can be linked to a rich air/fuel mixture, would I have to worry about a plugged catalytic converter in the future?BobMono Shadow GT

The exhaust is stock.....I haven't messed with it (yet.... ).Jim

If you have an aftermarket tip, perhaps the metal it is made with is chemically reacting wtih something in the fuel? That's very strange...

Non-issue. 2zz motors run a bit rich especially on the big end (high rpm). Running a little rich is not bad for a motor at all. My Corvette runs a bit rich when I'm running it hard and there's a little bit of black soot on the exhaust tips. No worries!!

Think it has to do with the intakes cause i saw that on mine once i started using my injen.

quote:Think it has to do with the intakes cause i saw that on mine once i started using my injen.I have an Injen intake but my tailpipe is soot free.

well i clean it and its not much, I think i just like having my tip SHINE!

Its running to rich. running premium fuel will do that if the car only requires a regular octane rating

quote:well i clean it and its not much, I think i just like having my tip SHINE!At the Mi. meet, Triton GT gave me some "Never Dull" to try on my Borla. It worked great, so I had to buy a can of it for myself.