Exhaust heat melted my extractor tubes :(
 

The other day I was checking out the AC compressor coolant pressures on the C5Z, and had the car running for quite a while. To keep the exhaust fumes out of the garage, I put the contraption I made up out of plastic drain pipe onto the exhaust tips on the car. This helps not only with extracting the exhaust fumes, but it greatly reduces the noise level too, which is nice when trying to listen for any unusual noises from the engine compartment.

Anyway, I knew the exhaust gases were pretty hot, as shown when I used my FLIR thermal imaging scope.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/exhaust_heat_03.jpg

But I guess I just didn't think about it and that the length of time I was running the engine might have an impact on those plastic tubing pipes I was using.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/exhaust_heat_01.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/exhaust_heat_02.jpg


Didn't melt them to the point where they opened up, so they are still usable. But certainly something I need to keep in mind in the future. Maybe if it weren't so blasted hot in the garage I could have run the engine longer without them heating up quite so fast.

Interesting how only two of the four pipes melted like they did.

In any event, the AC coolant pressures looked OK to me. Maybe a little high on the low pressure side, but nothing bad enough to do anything about. I guess the AC compressor clutch clicking on and off during idle while the engine is cold is nothing to worry about. Certainly the AC is pumping out pretty cold air in the passenger compartment.

Rich, I thought that C5 pipes only had 2 of the 4 pipes open to the mufflers.
The other 2 are only for show. Maybe take a peek inside there with a flashlight to be sure. It would be pretty weird if all 4 are open and only 2 are getting hot enough to do that........
Andy

Andy,

Those are aftermarket exhaust pipes that came with my rear mounted STS turbos. Both tips are open with one pipe welded onto the main pipe that attaches to the exhaust of the hot side of the turbo.

In the FLIR image you can actually see that all four exhaust extractor pipes attached to the exhaust pipe tips are hot from the exhaust gases coming out of them. But not sure why two of the four would be hotter than the other two. I guess it could be that the gasses take the path of least resistance which would be the pipe tips without the sharp bend to the outside world. So the two inside tailpipe tips (at the centerline of the back of the vehicle) are actually the straighter paths from the turbo exhaust side.

I've had to clean dark exhaust crap from all four of the tips, so they are all open for exhaust gasses from the output of the turbos. And I painted those pipes, and sprayed paint down the insides of both parts of the exhaust tips.

I've attached a pic taken from the underside of the car out the back so you can see what they look like from that angle.

YEP! I see what you mean! You may have hit it correctly with the path of least resistance part. Getting to those outside pipes takes a helluva bend to accomplish it, and probably doesn't have much exhaust passing thru it till the turbos spool up.
Andy:wavey: