How to Clean Black Exhaust Tips: A Complete Guide [2023]

Cleaning of exhaust tips is uber important to increase the luster of your car as well as the performance of the exhaust system.

There are many ways to clean exhaust tips, but all the rules are not hard and fast. There are few exceptions to carrying out the cleaning process in subtly different ways. This depends on the type of dirt. Unlike regular dust, carbon buildup, and dirt, when exhaust tips turn black, you need to treat that.

So, how to clean black exhaust tips? Grab a microfiber cloth and soak it with water. Clean the light dirt and dust at first. Now, get steel wool and clean the black spot by applying force. It’s time to polish your tips to make it shine and bright.

But, why does exhaust that turned black require special treatment, unlike other exhaust tips? 

And, how to clean black exhaust step by step? Well, read on; you’ll get to know everything related to these topics.

Let’s get started.

Why Exhaust Tips Turn Black?

So, what the heck causes exhaust tips to turn black? Well, let’s figure it out.

The reason is simple and obvious. Exhaust tips accumulate black soot over time, which is likely to be composed of hydrocarbons, a normal combustion product.

The accumulation of black soot also indicates the unburn fuel of the engine. If the black soot is wet, it means oil in the exhaust system. A valve guide or seal is usually faulty, or the ring may be cracked, allowing oil to enter the combustion chamber.

In general, a rich engine will have a black exhaust, and blue smoke indicates that oil has entered the combustion chamber.

Carbon buildup is another problem that may also lead to exhaust tips turning black.

So, yea, those are the reason that causes exhaust tips to turn black.

How to Clean Exhaust Tips Turn Black?

The easiest and fastest way to clean exhaust turning black is using soap. A mild abrasive polish soap can get the job done, and P21S Polishing Soap is an excellent option to consider.

Now, wet the sponge with water, dry it, rub it on the soap to pick up the polish, and then scrub the exhaust tip.

Here’s the exact step to clean the exhaust tips:

1. Take the sponge out of the P21S Polishing Soap.
2. Wet the sponge with water.
3. Rub the sponge on the P21S Polishing Soap to get some soap on it.
4. Wash the exhaust tip with soap and scrub the sponge. You don’t need to use any special techniques here. To remove black buildup, agitate the sponge against the metal.
5. Use the polishing soap to clean the entire exhaust tip, not just the build-up on its edges.
6. Scrub any areas that require more scrubbing with water after rinsing the soap off.

How to Clean Black Chrome Exhaust Tips?

Chrome exhaust tips are fantastic at both aesthetics and performance, but they have a problem, and that is they turn black and dirty quickly.

In the preceding section, I discussed why exhaust tips turned black. But how to clean chrome exhaust tips that turned black? Unlike cleaning stainless steel exhaust tips, it requires special treatment.

Well, let me show you how.

To clean black chrome exhaust tips, you better off using exhaust polish after hard cleaning with steel wool. Pinnacle exhaust polish can be a pin a good choice.

You can even use exhaust soaps to achieve the same result. It works great on clean chrome exhaust that turns black.

No matter what color it is, it doesn’t matter. As with clear-coated paint, chrome is a coating. Chrome is extremely hard and crystal clear. Any product that you use for your regular (shiny nickel plated) will work for any color. 

There are special compounds for chrome that would destroy aluminum, but buffers and special compounds for aluminum are just as effective in polishing chrome. Such is the hardness of chrome. So, it’s always better to clean it with soap.

Also Read: Step by Step Cleaning Chrome Exhaust Tips.

How Do You Remove Carbon Buildup from Exhaust Tips?

Carbon buildup is one of the potent causes that turns exhaust tips black. Engine problems can create carbon buildup.

The presence of carbon deposits can disrupt airflow, causing engines to operate outside of OEM specifications. As a result, operational turbulence causes an inconsistency in the air-fuel ratio.

As a result of this inconsistency, the engine experiences rich and lean mixtures, which can adversely affect the engine’s long-term reliability and may cause hotspots within the combustion chamber.

Hotspots drastically reduce engine efficiency. Due to carbon’s tendency to “hold heat”, areas, where carbon buildup has localized, are likely to overheat.

The result is engine knock, which can significantly reduce engine efficiency.

Carbon buildup in an engine can cause the following symptoms:

1. Failing Sensors from Fouling
2. Black Smoke from Exhaust System
3. Rough Idles/Hard Starts
4. Engine Cylinder Misfires
5. Decreased Acceleration/Performance

Hence, exhaust is a part of the engine, it also forms carbon buildup.

So, how to prevent exhaust carbon buildup? Here are a few suggestions.

1. Refrain from using low-quality fuel.
2. Supply quality fuel.
3. Preventive maintenance.
4. Maintenance of engine regularly.

Key Takeaways

Cleaning exhaust tips aren’t that hard and but the real problem we don’t give it enough importance. But, heck it can diminish the beauty and performance.

So, why shouldn’t you utilize a little effort on this?

There are many ways to clean black exhaust tips but I discussed the easiest and most effective ways. Also, I explained why exhaust tips turn black and how to clean chrome exhaust for the same issues.