So I finally come up on 5K miles and schedule service when I'm asked if there are any other issues they wanted me to address.

I decided to give the car a good looking over - as I have really no valid complaints regarding the car - and much to my surprise, I noticed these kind of orange/brown stains at the tips of both my exhaust pipes and up into the pipe on either side.





I mention it to the service advisor and he replies that it was normal as every ES he had on the lot had the same stains. He tells me that they are stains from the heating/cooling system where the water generated therein doesn't properly drain out of the pipes. He then has one of his staff come over with a wet rag and wipe the stains semi-clean.

I went home and had a look up my wife's pipes . She has a 2006 Chrysler 300C which does have holes at the end of the pipes and absolutely no stains!

Anybody experiencing anything similar to what I've stated above?

Thank you for any help in advance.

 

I believe your service advisor gave you correct info on this question. Every ES I've seen has the same deposits to varying degrees - I assume it is somewhat dependent on the length of normal your driving trips. And it does clean up pretty well.

Dave Mac

 

The SA is correct. If you really want to keep it clean just use some metal polish (Mother's, Eagle One, etc.) whenever you clean the car. That will take off the deposits quite well. You can then use it on the outside of the exhaust to keep them looking new.

 

Tons of cars have that problem. It's not a Toyota/Lexus thing.

 

1. The stains are normal.

2. It appears that dealer service advisors (and even their mechanics) often make up plausible sounding explanations for customer concerns, when they have no idea what they're talking about. If your heating/cooling system was connected to your exhaust system, you'd inhale carbon monoxide every time you flipped on the A/C, and wouldn't have survived the test drive. The stains are from water that forms inside the exhaust system when hot engine exhaust hits the cold metal - just like condensation on a cold window in the winter time. The water causes a very small amount of rust to form, which gives the color. The exhaust system is stainless steel, but even that will rust (albeit slowly) in the presence of water, salt, etc. It's nothing to worry about.

During colder months, you may see water pour out of the exhaust pipes of cars in front of you when they suddenly accelerate for the first time since being started -- that's due to this very condensation issue.

 

I don't think your service advisor meant "heating/cooling system" but rather was referring to the condensation relating to heating/cooling taking place within the exhaust system.

Dave Mac

 

You nailed it right on the nose!!! Do they really think we are that dumb? Anything to push the keys back to us and send us on our way.

This is where the "your transmission is learning" quote came from.... LOL

 

Buy some NEVR-DULL at Wal-Mart and clean those pipes on a regular basis. Mine looked like that, but now they look brand new once again.

You could try drilling a small drail hole in each pipe (like many other cars have). That might reduce the problem.

 

Thanks everyone for their input and advice it's much appreciated.