Black Soot at Exhaust Tips

[Salstang]

Is this normal? I have Magnapaks and an SCT tune from American Muscle. I also have a K&N CAI installed. All of the information was given to American Muscle and they did the tune based on that. But I notice heavy black soot in the exhaust tips which in my opinion looks a lot more than what it should be. To me it looks like it may be running rich or something. Its an '09 GT with 28000 miles.

Also..I maybe be nuts, but there are some days I start it and it sounds louder than other days. Is it possible for the computer to change? I wouldn't think so...but as I said, maybe its just me, but it seems like it changes in sound from one start to the next.
I guess I could contact American Muscle and ask them the same questions, but I'd like to get some opinions here first.
Thanks

 

[RedMOsesSC]

Most likely, the reason you are seeing soot on your exhuast tips is your tune is "Rich", meaning theres alot of fuel bieng requested to keep things "Safe". Since American Muscle did not actually tune you car but wrote you a tune based on your mods, they add some extra fuel into the tune to keep your car from going "Lean" and blowing your motor. This is Normal for email tunes.

I have a JDM tune on a Saleen Supercharged 3v and on occassion i get error codes stating "System is too Rich", which is essentially what your expereicning only its rich enough to trip the computers sensors, id rather my system run rich than blow the motor.

A Dyno tune would optimize our tunes to find a stoich balance and that where the hidden power lies for Dyno tunes.

 

[Salstang]

Most likely, the reason you are seeing soot on your exhuast tips is your tune is "Rich", meaning theres alot of fuel bieng requested to keep things "Safe". Since American Muscle did not actually tune you car but wrote you a tune based on your mods, they add some extra fuel into the tune to keep your car from going "Lean" and blowing your motor. This is Normal for email tunes.

I have a JDM tune on a Saleen Supercharged 3v and on occassion i get error codes stating "System is too Rich", which is essentially what your expereicning only its rich enough to trip the computers sensors, id rather my system run rich than blow the motor.

A Dyno tune would optimize our tunes to find a stoich balance and that where the hidden power lies for Dyno tunes.

Thank you, that explains a lot. So what I have now is not harming the engine, correct? That was my main concern. Maybe down the road I will take to someone and have it tuned correctly. Will Ford dealers do it? Or is that something they consider to void the warranty?

 

[RedMOsesSC]

Thank you, that explains a lot. So what I have now is not harming the engine, correct? That was my main concern. Maybe down the road I will take to someone and have it tuned correctly. Will Ford dealers do it? Or is that something they consider to void the warranty?

NO, your engine is NOT bieng harmed.

Hahaha, tunning voids warranties(they are useless anyway)... DO NOT go to Ford, they suck unless you are doing something very specific to the car that is NOT performance oriented like wiring.

Most guys will wait till they have a more specific configuration to get a Dyno tune, like Cams, Nitrous or Forced induction cause Dyno time is not cheap but if and when you do get it youll feel the difference.

Pick all the low hanging fruit till then.

 

[Salstang]

Thanks for the information. Yes..I didn't really want to get a Dyno. I'm not planning on racing it, I just wanted it to be a little more than the everyday GT on the road and it seems that is what I got. If I bring it to the dealer for warranty work, I can put the original tune back in.
Any ideas on the difference in the sound of the exhaust, or is that just my imagination?

 

[Stkjock]

Thanks for the information. Yes..I didn't really want to get a Dyno. I'm not planning on racing it, I just wanted it to be a little more than the everyday GT on the road and it seems that is what I got. If I bring it to the dealer for warranty work, I can put the original tune back in.
Any ideas on the difference in the sound of the exhaust, or is that just my imagination?

your imagination


I agree with Moses, the tune sounds rich, IMHO, you want best performance, see Dan at Realspeed for a dyno tune.