Help: Something strange coming out of exhaust pipe

[Black Beauty]

I've just pulled out of the end of my exhaust pipe what I can only describe as a horse'e tail! This is the second time this has happened - it looks like a thick collection of hair extensions. Do exhaust silencers have insulation in them like this that sometimes comes free, or is someone playing silly buggers with it?

[RobboC]

What car is it?

[AlexKing]

Well, with a name like yours...

[Jimmyarm]

Its the wadding that helps 'silence' the exhaust noise.

You need a new back box

[Mars]

It's exhaust wadding. Don't pull it out, just snip it off.

It'll stop eventually, either because it snags on something or you run out of wadding.

[Black Beauty]

Gosh that was quick - thanks for the reply JimmyArm. For information, the car is a 1989 XR4x4 2.9 EFI, and the back box is actually the newest of the exhaust components.

[Jimmyarm]

Black Beauty said:

Gosh that was quick - thanks for the reply JimmyArm. For information, the car is a 1989 XR4x4 2.9 EFI, and the back box is actually the newest of the exhaust components.

Odd, probably worth taking it back if its less than a year old.

It is quite funny when people show up at work saying they have a 'hairy tailpipe'

[Mastodon2]

Obvious solution: Unsilenced straight through back box

[ROOODBOY]

It could be coming from a centre box.

I'd be cautious of just leaving it, it could block the exhaust, worst case scenario the car won't run!

I once fixed an Escort for a mate of mine which would barely move under its own steam, turned out to be a silencer falling apart inside.

[Black Beauty]

Thanks to everyone who has replied.

I've now put a pipe cleaning spring up the exhaust as far as it will go, which is just under 2ft and takes it just past the far end of the back box. This has brought out another load of wadding together with some sooty platelets, so it's either disintegrating from the back box or it's migrated down from the centre boxes and got stuck at the entrance to the back box, hence source is inconclusive. I'm surprised at how much of this stuff there is.