Is your exhaust ugly dark brown

This has been discussed before. It's something us V6 owners have to deal with.... it's very common.

Devo has the answer. It works! Make sure to clean it well. The discoloration is coming from some kind of contamination that assists in the discoloration.

I didn't get to it soon enough and I have permanent discoloration.

Painting

What about painting it black or silver with a high heat paint?

Color

Just to let everyone know that when you are cleaning the muffler dont use anything excecept a cloth rag so you do not scratch the stainless steel up.This stuff is so good that it took off the rust spot where they welded it up.
I dont know about painting it.I did that with a previous car and it tends to pick up a lot of dirt and road grime over time and it becomes really hard to clean after that.All you can really do then is just repaint it.That is what happened to me though.

Obvious Question...

Where do I get this stuff, Bar Keepers Friend. Do local shops have it or do I have to order it over the web?

Stuff

You can get it at your local walmart,Kmart,or grocery store.I found mine at walmart.

Thank you so much for that tip! That worked great! It hardly took and time or work either. :joy:

exhaust malfunction light is on and stays on

I cleaned my muffler with the Bar Keeper's Friend and it looks great however after driving for 5 mins the exhaust malfunction light came on and has stayed on. It doens't drive any different but the light is not going off. Anyone else seen this problem?

I can't imagine that cleaning the muffler and the exhaust malfunction light are related.

Solution

I have a V6 and immediately saw how tacky the rear looked :confused2: I bought a can of BBQ/Grill spray paint in flat black and painted the exhaust and tail pipes. My Treg is Black so it is a perfect match. It is rated for up to 1400F, so no worries. Go offroad and get a scratch, spray on some more. EZ :joy:

Yikes! Ya'll frighten me. A couple of things...

1) Stainless Steel won't rust. Look it up.
2) There are lots of stainless polishes. You can take out just about any defect with the proper polishes, compounds and abrasives.
3) Discoloration is a product of the heat, not contaminiation. You buffed out a mark left by the welding process. Its un-even color is due to the internal flow characteristics of the muffler.
4) Why use grill paint when any auto store has heat temp paint, lousy brands but whatever. Wurth makes a fine heat temp paint, if you choose to paint it but why bother? You sure didn't help you resale.
5) I also doubt the malfuntion light is a result of buffing the muffler.

How do I know this? Lots of time around race cars and stainless headers.

Cool, how often do you have to use the Braso?

Re: Mulfer

JaDa.Poland said:

I use Braso and fine steel wool. Does a great job and keeps the mulfer looking new. See attached picture. The Touareg has 11000 miles and 10 months old. The advantage of Braso is the shine.
Touareg owner living in Germany......

Click to expand...

The Brasso sounds like a great idea - good shine on that muffler!
I would strongly reccomend NOT using steel wool however. You risk getting very small steel wool particles embedded in the stainless, that will rust and show up as tiny little spots. You would be better off using a non-metallic abrassive pad, like Schotch Brite, or similar.

I use the Brasso (Note I left the "s" off of the orginial email) once every three to four months depending on the color of the mulfler. Be sure to use extra fine steel wool.

Living in Germany is very difficult keeping the touareg clean. I use a power washer to keep the underside clean especially the wheels. I believe when one cleans a vehicle it is about underside as well as top side. People see the touareg and can not believe it is almost a year old. Hope this helps.......

i used stainless steel polish diamond bright the stuff you use to polish diamond plated truck chrome, it worked great, muffler looks new and is highly polished, use a scotch brite pad on the dark brown spots, this is just splashed on gummed upped grease from the road. 06, v6 camp white lund bug deflector, monster mats chrome tipped exhuast tips bolt on ,mint truck, lumar at 35 tint