Forgive my ignorance, but I see some exhausts are all chrome, or bright steel, and others have a blue tip, looking kind of like burned stainless steel, like a pot boiled dry.

What causes the blue tips?

Or is it trying to simulate something that happens naturally?

 

I'm not sure the reason for this, however, if you post some pics we might be able to get an idea of exactly the reasoning behind this

 

Chas,

When chrome is heated it oxidizes. The blue is the oxidation. Sometimes it can be orange, gold or brown and sometimes it gets a rainbow effect.

The oxidation should clean off with a chrome polish that treats oxidation.
Do you have the old style tips that caused the soot build up on the rear bumper? Perhaps they do not dissapate the heat well enough to lessen the oxidation.

I know some bike ownes who paint the inside of the chrome exhast tips with a heat tolerant paint to deflect more heat out of the exhaust and slow / lessen the oxidation effect on the chrome finish.

Last, if you currently use a cleaner or polish on the chrome tips, perhaps switch to something else as the cleaner you currently use may leave a coating on the chrome which in itself, may be the oxidizing culpret with the exhaust heat.

 

In some new exhaust tips they are blue for looks, they simply flame the end to give it a cool look. In those cases its not oxidation the metal changes color due to the flame treatment, its akin to "tempering".

 

The blue / burned look is when titanium is flamed/heated to a very high temperature. Very popular trend style in Japan. For example the 5zigen exhaust for the RL comes in both stainless steel and titanium tips. Eg -

http://www.strikingvisions.com/rl27.jpg

 

Sorry I was not more clear. I was looking at aftermarket exhausts, and some come with bright shiny tips, and others have this blue oxidized look that Tampa describes so well, but otherwise they seem to be the same product.

 

Think I had that issue when my Honda Civic.... that was back in the days but I had a Greddy exhaust.

 

That's it!

So it is just an aesthetic device, and the shiny exhaust does not turn blue after use?

I wasn't sure whether I liked the blue look or not on a black car.

Thanks

 

Hmmm ... if I saw blue tips, I'd worry about circulatory problems.

.
.

 

yeah, have you ever tried cutting metal with a bad disc on a machine, sometimes the heat causes the metal to change colors like that, but I guess you would have to get the exhasut system infra red hot to get that effect in real life, something only GT cars and Formula 1 might be able to pull off.

 

The temps to turn them blue are very high. They are munufactures like that, they will not turn that color at normal working temps ( not significantly anyway)

 

Back in my motorcycling days, it was common to see English bikes (BSA's, Triumphs, etc.) with blued exhaust pipes, and I guess Harley's still turn, too. They sure used to.

But when the Japanese bikes hit the scene big in the 60's, you hardly ever saw blued pipes on them. The chroming was just that much better on the Jap bikes.

In the meantime, the guys with blued pipes spent a lot of time with products like "Blue-Away", polishing out the blue ... to no avail, though, since it was back the next weekend.

.
.

 

I'm aware of the soot buildup issue but didn't know there were "old style" or for that matter, new style tips. Do you know if they look any differetn, when they were changed, or how to tell the difference? While I do get soot on the tips, I don't seem to get any buildup on the bumper.

Just curious.

LL

 

There is likely some difference between 05, and the rest. There was an Acura Service News that talks about soot build up on the 05 RL, and suggests using the 06 RL finishers.

However, as you note, this service news article only addresses soot on the bumpers, and not soot on the finishers. There was a thread on this some time ago, and the explanation was stop and go driving. In my daily commutes, I get a build up of soot on the bottom of the finisher. Condensation and soot drips out the tail pipes causing a build up, as the engine heats up in the morning, and the condensation is flushed/dried out of the exhaust system. I would have to clean the tip bottoms weekly.

I do note an unintentional experiment. Just before a long trip from DC to the tip of South Carolina, I had cleaned the tips, and then did the high speed run in one day, and then back again a week later, after not having used the car in between. I put probably over ten times the miles in that week on, than I do in a normal week of commuting, except that most of it was 75 mph vs stop and go. No soot on the bottom of the finisher.



From Feb 2006 Acura Service News, Page 1

Black Soot on the Rear Bumper

Got a ’05 RL in your shop for black soot on the
rear bumper? You’re looking at a cosmetic
problem caused from water in the exhaust, black
exhaust particles, and just plain aerodynamics at
work. If, however, your service client is really
miffed about driving around with a messy
bumper, mount a set of ‘06 RL finishers to the
exhaust pipes. Not only do they cut down on this
problem but they look cool, too. Order these parts
from Honda parts stock:
• Right Finisher: P/N 18310-SJA-A01
• Left Finisher: P/N 18320-SJA-A01