Soot on exhaust tips

[JDBob35a]

Anybody else have excessive soot buildup on their exhaust tips? I have 7000 miles now and my exhaust tips stay black on the bottom. Black soot buildup.
I keep it cleaned off when I detail the truck but it's pretty much stained the chrome and don't really shine up like it should anymore.
This is my first RAM/Hemi, none of my Fords had this level of buildup on the tips.
I've told the dealer about it twice and both times they ignored it, I'm currently looked to swap to a new dealer because nothing ever get resolved with the current one..
Just wondering how much of this soot is normal?? Would appear it's running rich but I'm getting pretty good mileage and truck runs great.
Only burn top tier 89 octane fuel, since the first tank.

Thanks guys!

 

[Patsy1099]

My last vehicle, non ram, did the same thing. Annoyed the heck out of me. Not sure how much soot is normal. I have the black tips on mine so it relieves my ocd a bit!

 

[RedRocketZ28]

Every vehicle I have ever owned has had soot on the exhaust tip(s). It's completely normal.

 

[go-ram]

It"s the nature of the way they have designed the combustion chambers and engine controls in order to meet emisions regulations and fleet-average fuel economy regulations. Every modern gasoline engine built for use in America is this way now.

The physical design of the exhaust tip itself has something to do with the appearance, i.e. how much soot collects there and how visible it is.

The interesting thing is, if you compare the tailpipe of an Ecodiesel with 50,000 miles on it to any of the gasoline engines with only 5,000 miles on them, the Ecodiesel's tailpipe is cleaner than the gasoline engine's tailpipe (in terms of soot buildup). In other words, apparently modern diesel engines emit significantly less soot than modern gasoline engines. That's because diesel engines have had complex, sophisticated particulate filter systems on them for years ("DPF"), whereas so far the world's governments have not yet required particulate filters for gasoline engines (although some claim that eventually even gasoline engines will be required to aso have particulate filters). In particular, GDI (gasoline direct injection) engines are in the crosshairs for their much higher levels of soot particulate emissions. Here is just one article on the topic:
https://phys.org/news/2017-05-carcinogenic-soot-particles-petrol.html

Diesel engines are notorious for their higher levels oxides-of-nitrogen ("NOx") emissions, whereas they seem to have the diesel soot emissions fairly well in check now, what with the modern DPF systems. Gasoline engines are behind the curve in terms of particulate emissions, something that will eventually catch up with them and need to be corrected. The soot particles emitted by these newer gasoline engines are such small particles, they are supposedly more dangerous, because the human lung can't self-clean the particles out below a certain size. Which means the particles build up in the lungs over time, ostensibly a greater cancer risk.

 

[JDBob35a]

Thanks guys, make me feel better.
My Fords had some buildup but to this extent. Wondering if some better quality tips might help prevent permanent staining from it, clean up better at detail time.
I'm OCD about chrome, its supposed to shine, not be black or blue LOL

 

[silver64]

The soot is mostly caused by unburned fuel and when you clean them use the same methods, tools and cleaner you use on your wheels and it should look just like new!

 

[Ram1984]

I use 0000 steel wool on mine,,,it takes all the tar and black soot off

 

[User_3336]

Vehicles with direct injection engines are far worse as far as soot / carbon buildup on the tailpipe.

I would not worry about it. Wasting your time taking to a dealer about this.

 

[Biga]

I usually use a chrome polish on the tips. That said, I used it for the first time on my 2019 and thier is still a lot of debris I could not get off of them, may have to try something a little more agressive with them.

 

[Lize]

Brite Max twins very good for bringing back shiny exhausts. If old and bad I start with heavier duty green then progress onto lighter white variety. Have brought back 20 year old exhausts with it. For regular cleaning the white less harsh is very effective and likely all you’ll need. Best metal cleaner I’ve ever used and I’ve tried loads. Sometimes I use alloy wheel cleaner first rather than just a soapy wash but you have to get it off very quickly and whatever you do don’t let it start to dry.

 

[Denny Crane]

I thought this was odd too. My only reference for comparison is my motorcycle, which generally has no soot buildup. So I was surprised to see it on the truck. Cleans right off, but it doesn’t take much time to build up.

Also, the left pipe seems to get a bit more buildup than the right. Truck runs good.

 

[Lize]

My GM V8 LSA isn't too bad for soot but gets a few spit marks on the bottom of the tips while my Nissan V6 gets very black with soot quite quickly, nothing wrong with either. Will be interesting to see how the Hemi does when I get it