Black Soot
 

I was just poking around the engine some checking things out, and I noticed that the underside of my FM heat shield has black soot on it, same color etc as the exhaust pipe. Car runs fine getting 4 to 5 pounds of boost. Is this normal or is it indicating an exhaust leak? Thanks

Exhaust leak. Or it's burning oil (smoking).

exhaust leak. im sure you hear a ticking noise in that area at idle?

why would it tick if it was an exhaust leak?

cause that's the noise that the exhaust will make when it escapes during exhaust pulses.

doesnt burn oil leaks some but not burns. I just listened and I think I may hear a leak. Ill tighten everything up this weekend. I never have since I installed the Greddy 2 years ago.

Take a look for a sheared bolt/stud on the the turbo->manifold flange. Don't just randomly go tighten stuff up, you might just end up with a fucked up manifold.

Thanks will do. Im also not a gorilla when it comes to tightening, havent broken a bolt in a long time

Found it. Very obvious once I took the heat shield off and got a face full of air. The downpipe to turbo was loose. Thanks for the help