smoke coming from one tailpipe?

foxbodymike87 · Oct 13, 2011

my 87 lx with MAF smokes from the right tailpipe and is very hot..and the left tailpipe is cold..what could it be?

Mustang5L5 · Oct 13, 2011

Blockage in the exhaust somewhere?

Take a rag (no oil or fuel on it) and stuff it in each tailpipe one at a time. Does one flow more than the other?

Could also be an engine issue...one bank of cylinders is running lean. If this is the case, you should run the engine codes to confirm.

foxbodymike87 · Oct 13, 2011

one of my friends who is an ASE tech said it was running lean and he said not to worry about it...just wanted a second opinion

ratio411 · Oct 13, 2011

If one muffler was clogged somehow, could the exhaust from both banks be forced to go through the H-pipe into just one side of the exhaust, thereby making it hotter than normal and leaving the clogged side cold?

??? I don't know myself, but seems to me both tailpipes get hot in normal conditions.

LarsD · Oct 14, 2011

ratio411 said:
If one muffler was clogged somehow, could the exhaust from both banks be forced to go through the H-pipe into just one side of the exhaust, thereby making it hotter than normal and leaving the clogged side cold?

??? I don't know myself, but seems to me both tailpipes get hot in normal conditions.

Sounds legit to me. FBM, does your car have cats/emissions equipment on it?

foxbodymike87 · Oct 14, 2011

LarsD said:
Sounds legit to me. FBM, does your car have cats/emissions equipment on it?

Nope, smog delete and catless H-pipe..i was thinking it was a block to..mabye a fat rat crawled his way in and couldnt get out?

Mustang5L5 · Oct 14, 2011

foxbodymike87 said:
one of my friends who is an ASE tech said it was running lean and he said not to worry about it...just wanted a second opinion

If i was running lean, i would worry about it.

Mustang5L5 · Oct 14, 2011

ratio411 said:
If one muffler was clogged somehow, could the exhaust from both banks be forced to go through the H-pipe into just one side of the exhaust, thereby making it hotter than normal and leaving the clogged side cold?

??? I don't know myself, but seems to me both tailpipes get hot in normal conditions.

Both pipes should have equal flow..that's the reason for the crossover.

Reason i asked him to stuff a rag in each pipe was to check for flow. I see this all the time in cars that are stored. Big mouse makes a nest in muffler and blocks it off.

By blocking one pipe at a time, it forces the exhaust through the crossover and into the other pipe.

If you have a blockage in the exhaust, you'll see a huge difference in flow.

If you don't, then it's a tuning issue. Both sides should be equal.

90lxcoupe · Oct 14, 2011

If you can touch the pipe when the car is hot and it dosent burn you, there is definitley a problem to worry about.

N8Dogg98 · Oct 14, 2011

I had this problem about 1 year into owning my car. Turns out the first owner installed glass packs and they had rusted out inside and it shoved the fiberglass packing material into the pipe above the rear axle on the drivers side. I tried using a plumbers drain clog tool to remove it, but no dice. Bought new exhaust and it was incredible how much better the car ran and the SOTP feel was very nice.

LarsD · Oct 14, 2011

foxbodymike87 said:
Nope, smog delete and catless H-pipe..i was thinking it was a block to..mabye a fat rat crawled his way in and couldnt get out?

I'd say it's possible. I'd try 5L5's trick with the rags, or if you have access to a laser temp gauge hit the header tubes on each bank and see if they are cold up there. If so, its a tuning/mechanical problem.

foxbodymike87 · Oct 14, 2011

ill try the rag trick and see what happens...also when the car is shut off from running for a little while the right pipe(the one that is hot) has smoke coming from it that looks like smoke from a flame you just put out on a candle..

and the car has magnaflows.

Mustang5L5 · Oct 14, 2011

Burning from whatever is clogging your pipes??

I'm really suspecting a blockage here

foxbodymike87 · Oct 14, 2011

Mustang5L5 said:
Burning from whatever is clogging your pipes??

I'm really suspecting a blockage here

If it is a clog, is there any easy way of unblocking it without taking the H-pipe out?

90lxcoupe · Oct 14, 2011

If something is blocking it enough that the exhaust cant make it thru, i would bet you are going to have to take the H pipe and the catback of the car to get it unclogged.

Seems like alot of work but if you do this first it will probably save you some time in the long run versus coming up with some backyard method of unclogging the pipe.

Mustang5L5 · Oct 15, 2011

What type of mufflers do you have?

Let's determine if this is a clog first.

foxbodymike87 · Oct 15, 2011

Mustang5L5 said:
What type of mufflers do you have?

Let's determine if this is a clog first.

Magnaflows

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That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

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