soot on back bumper..

[99GSXAWDTURBO]

ive been noticing lately, black suit on my bumper around the exhaust. I park my car in the garage, and have noticed suit on the wall area close to the exhaust. Whats causing the suit problem?

 

[weith1111]

Soot. Carbon. Too much fuel. You need to get a logger on there and see what's going on. Have you changed anything recently that coincides with the black marks? Check your spark plug condition and reply back.

 

[Shane2GSX]

You may be running rich Jared. Do you have a cat?

 

[99GSXAWDTURBO]

nothing comes to mind that could be causing this...i had colder plugs in, but swaped them out for the factory 6 heat range plugs. ill check into getting a logger. I checked all my spark plugs connections and they seem to be in working order.

 

[weith1111]

Check the condition of the plugs, pull them and see if they are white, black, oily, etc. I'd assume you have an evil boost leak or two. Check your intake, intercooler pipes and connections and make sure everything is tight. Do a boost leak test. Losing metered air will make you run dirty pig rich.

 

[99GSXAWDTURBO]

checked plugs, besides having a little black soot-like build up on them they appeared fine. I found a leak near my BOV and fixed that. I havent found leaks elsewhere

 

[motoman358]

just wondering, do you have a cat on your car? if you dont that may be causing it. also if your car burs oil it could leave deposits. otherwise i would look at tune up items (plugs, wires, oil, pressure test intake system, etc...). you will always get a little carbon with a perfectly running car, but i am assuming that in your case it is slightly excessive thats why you posted about it.

 

[99GSXAWDTURBO]

yes, i have cat, ive never had buildup on my bumper before until after my turbo swap. Ill check into new plugs, wires ...etc. Thanks for all the help

 

[sureshot971]

Well i had this same exact problem mine was to the point where i could wash my car, then drive for 2 days and the back bumper would like like crap. I figured i was running way to rich and i figured it was the front o2 sensor so i replaced that and now it works much better, of course there is some black but thats common. Works much better now, i hope i helped (o and dont settle for the universal o2 sensor thats what i had in before and thats why i needed a new one)

 

[99GSXAWDTURBO]

ill look into that....ive been meaning to replace the 02 sensor for a while. Do you know where i could pick one up for fairly cheap?

 

[andymoraitis]

Your car has a sooty bumper because you have the factory A/F set in the ECU. It's pig rich and made that way intentionally to keep the motor safe under boost. Of course it also kills performance, etc. Checking the front O2 is a great idea sicne these will aggravate the condition when they start to fail. If you need a new one, go to:

http://www.sparkplugs.com

Plug in the model year and engine and you'll be greeted with all kinds of options. Choose the Denso OEM replacement. Not only does this snap right in, but it has the ability to handle leaded gas. Buying from this place will save you close to $50-60 over what a few site vendors charge for the same part. FYI, you want the front unit.

Hope that helps,

Andy