Muffler soot dripping

[Omarf4]

Ok, weird one here....I noticed my truck has two distinct soot spots on the garage floor (been there for a while and just never noticed it). In looking under the truck, it’s the main muffler (before splitting off to the tail pipes)..seems like the joint welds have weakened and producing the soot? Anyone have this problem? 2019 ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn.
See attached pics looking up:

 

[syddog 2000]

My guess would be a weep hole, dripping condensation.

 

[Omarf4]

My guess would be a weep hole, dripping condensation.

Yeah but it’s excessive. We are talking a lot of soot that is accumulating daily. You can see from the pics, it’s a line of soot on the muffler.
Truck has 15000 miles and it’s my 4th ram, none of the prior ones had this much soot build up from the weep hole..including my ecodiesel

 

[syddog 2000]

Might be worth a trip to the dealer, I looked at mine just now and they are clean, I am in a warm climate.

 

[riccnick]

Any excess noise coming from that area? Pretty sure the mufflers don't have weep holes, but I know the resonators do.

 

[Omarf4]

Any excess noise coming from that area? Pretty sure the mufflers don't have weep holes, but I know the resonators do.

No excess noise and no rattling or buzzing. Confirmed with window open and floored it over a few bumps. Everything is solid. I didn’t see weep holes. It does appear like the welded seems have separated. No rust. I live in Texas so we don’t use salt on the roads here that would cause rust.

Dropping off at the dealer on Friday for my recalls and will bring this up with them. I don’t think it’s normal for that much soot to be coming out of that part of the muffler. We shall see...

 

[Nails]

Wow, that seems little excessive. While little/some is not abnormal out of a weep hole. Would say you have a rich condition and/or a converter issue.
I would consult the dealer as you say you will be.
Edit: I’ve def ran across this on more trucks then cars. Much higher mileage and older engine design though. Which many was result in high idle times. Just my 2 cents

 

[Omarf4]

Got my recalls done at dealer....while there they didn’t see any issues with the muffler....

Unrelated, trying to see if the edge pulsar (which was taken out) running in performance mode was causing the excess soot......can’t confirm.

 

[Patsy1099]

What kind of gas do you use? Do you consistently use that same gas station? Just pondering whether the quality/mixture might have something to do with it??

 

[Omarf4]

What kind of gas do you use? Do you consistently use that same gas station? Just pondering whether the quality/mixture might have something to do with it??

Kroger 93 octane 90% of the time.

 

[Patsy1099]

That’s def higher than the 89 I put in mine and I would be surprised if they were giving you garbage gas, even if they aren’t rated top tier. That said, since it’s where you buy your gas most of the time, you could switch it up to see if it makes a difference. Although I would still tend to guess it’s something else. Just something else to consider if all else fails. Good luck. Keep us posted on the outcome.

 

[Cannonball]

Extra soot means your combustion is incomplete. Since you're putting fuel in that FCA does not recommend, I'd start running the recommended fuel and see if that clears it up after a few tanks. More octane is not always a good thing.

 

[Gtbrown]

The higher the octane the slower the fuel burns, shifting the ignition point in the piston stroke. Too high will cause reduced power and sluggish performance.

 

[dn325ci]

In one of the octane threads a ram owner reported that when they use high octane they get more soot. Might be worth an experiment.

 

[Omarf4]

Posted in the pulsar thread to see if anyone else having the same issue. Running the performance tune, which requires 91+ octane. It does advance the timing a bit.
Took off the pulsar edge and will monitor for the next few tanks.