EdwardNorth

Hey all,

I finished the install late last night so I didn't fire the car up until this morning. When I did, I immediately noticed white smoke coming from the turbo manifold, so I shut the engine off. The smoke still continued after the car was off. Why is it doing this? Could it be all the residue from the PB blaster burning off, or maybe the downpipe has to be "sterilized" and the junk has to burn out? Also smells like crap burning too.

It sure is nasty and I'm afraid to turn the car back on until I know what it is.

Thanks!

EdwardNorth

I also noticed that the first few inches of the DP from the turbo manifold out is glowing red, at idle a few minutes after startup.

It smells like burning plastic maybe? Paint? PB blaster?

93FD3S

Its normal. You could say the down pipe is breaking in. Just make sure you don't have any wires hanging and touching any part of the manifold and downpipe. Replace your O2 sensor while your at it. Replace it with a Bosch brand from your local autoparts dealer. They are just as good as OEM. Unless you have the $ to waste and get one from the dealer.

Toadman

Good advice 93FD3S. The DP smokes and stinks like a mother for about 10-15 minutes. Very normal. The glowing red from the manifold at idle may be a concern.

93BlackFD

smart man, keep this mentality and your FD should live a long and healthy life

FormerPorscheGuy

Let it heat up and burn off any excess coating from the turbo/downpipe area. Keep a fire extinguisher on hand if it gets really messy.

EdwardNorth

Thanks for the replies!

Actually, it's not the manifold that is glowing. It's the first few inches of the downpipe. It is a stainless steel M2 downpipe.

Is this normal for these downpipes?

Thanks!

sub-zero

It may be little bit lean? Sounds like it is way to hot for an idle?

Slacker7

iTrader: (2)

Err.. when you install it you probably had greasy hands.....plus all that pb-blaster you mentioned. And it's not uncommon for your exhaust to smoke a little too after installing mandrel bent exhaust piping. That's because of the lubricant left inside the pipes after the mandrel bending process.
Didn't you start the thread on wrapping the DP with insulation? I guess you decided not to go with it... if you did however,wrap it with insulation, the insulation will smoke for about the first 30 minutes.

sub-zero

A glowing red DP on idle sounds a bit hot to Me. Yes the DP will smoke after the install with any little amount of crap that got on it but it sounds like something else ,may not be right?

rx-7ml

Nothing on mine glows when idling. I would check this out once the smoking stops, which as others have said, is quite normal for new pipes due to chemicals burning off.

If you can, get a pic of the glowing area.

Slacker7

iTrader: (2)

yeah that's true... glowing at idle is too hot.

EdwardNorth

Okay, here's an update.


I went out and started her up again. There was a bit of smoke but nothing like the last time. By the time I shut her down the smoke was almost completely gone. (Note, It's up for the winter so I'm not driving it, just starting it on jacks in my garage. Don't want to run it standing still for too long...)

Anyway, the glow. It went away after a few minutes. When you start it up, (in gear) it still goes up to about 1500 or so RPM and works its way down. During that time the upper part of the pipe started to glow, HOWEVER, as the RPMs gradually decreased, the glow gradually faded. Sitting there at idle rpm of about 7-800, the pipe doesn't glow AT ALL. When it DOES glow, it's only the first 8 or 10 inches of the pipe from the manifold down toward the 02 sensor area. It is a fairly dull orange glow.

Waddaya think? Thanks for the help so far!

skunks

i was gonna initially say smoke after you wrap your dp is perfectly normal but i guess you dont have any wrap on there.

try starting her up a few more times, if it keeps glowing i would check your cat if you have one (possibly clogged?) or perhaps your catback

what ecu/other mods do you have on your car and what type of dp did you get, perhaps you got a really thin one or something.

it should not be glowing though if your only reving to 1500rpm.

EdwardNorth

It's an M2 downpipe.

Besides that I just have a straight-pipe catback (fabricated pipe, no muffler) and a K&N drop-in air filter. I still have the stock intake, cat, and everything else.

I revved it a few times up to 3-4000 RPM after the glow went away. The glow didn't even start to come back. I thought I read somewhere else that this is due to a certain condition at startup (air pump? rich fuel?) and is normal.

Thanks for the input!

EdwardNorth

Anyone know if this momentary glow is normal?

Addict

Don't know if it is normal, but mine does it too. I've searched for an answer. Others have seen it. One person found a broken check valve and when fixed the glowing went away. Others hypothesized that when it is a cold start the ecu dumps enough fuel to warm up the engine that some makes it through unburnt into the exhaust and it warms the exhaust to the point that it glows(yeah, dull orange... just a glow... not a bright light).

And it generally goes away after the engine is warmed up. Mine, 5-7 minutes of idle and the glow is fading.

Do a search. I found nothing definitive, but a number of interesting reads.