sparks out my exhaust

ok, tonight did some runs on a private road, ya uh huh, and my buddy who was behind me said he saw sparks flying out of my exhaust for 10-20 secs, (this was once i went into redline in 5th gear, he didnt pull out his camera in time, doh!)... any ideas what that was?? i got worried a bit, i hope all it was, was just crap inside the exhaust burning off cause it got so hot... and not bits and pieces of my engine or turbo flying out! lol any ideas?

mods:

pd150 turbo @ 22psi
11mm pump
bosch .203's 220bar injectors
pd130 oil cooler
pd150 turbo inlet
pd150 intake manifold
golf5 tdi/2.0t FMIC

power: 149whp and 267torque on mustang dyno.

let me know!!! thanks

This is sorta normal. When you get the exhaust real hot then lift off you get the sparks. The engine pumps air into a red hot exhaust and its almost like a cutting tourch, the air helps burn the crap from the exhaust. You dont get this at full load as their isnt enough air in the exhaust then. A gasser wont do it as it has a throttle...

Suffeks,

I had the same thing once, with my old setup. A buddy of mine was trying to keep up with me on a late-night highway run and when I asked him how my soot tasted (my old setup was pretty smokey at WOT) he said he saw sparks coming out of my exhaust. I agree with Des' theory because I had a lot of crud/soot buildup in my exhaust due to over-fuelling and it was when I lifted off the throttle that my friend said he saw the sparks ... and lots of soot!

Unburned sulfur perhaps? I believe that's what it is in railroad locomotives...

why at liftoff?

suffeks said:

why at liftoff?

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There's oxygen in the air going through the engine. When under power there is only a little bit of oxygen because it's all getting used up in the combustion process...

ah right ok gotcha, so the sign of sparks means the exhaust can breathe a bit better now?

wow! that is freaking awesome! if anyone has a vid of this it would be awesome to see. Is it a shower of sparks or just a few?

likely just a few. Probably not so noticeable in a video. Unless you have a high end camera. Like... an HD camera.

Mazda Rotary engine cars do it all the time, if just even slightly modified. Trademark flames for them.

-Mike

Haha, when I had a Holley on my Rx7 if I went to 7k in first and let off in gear I could shoot gigantic backfires and flames out. Had no idea it could be done on my TDI.

TooRoundTDI said:

Haha, when I had a Holley on my Rx7 if I went to 7k in first and let off in gear I could shoot gigantic backfires and flames out. Had no idea it could be done on my TDI.

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No, no.. it can't. We're talking about sparks not flames... RX7s are notorious for flames, but not sparks.

jnecr said:

No, no.. it can't. We're talking about sparks not flames... RX7s are notorious for flames, but not sparks.

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I thought diesels weren't sparkers?

Bob_Fout said:

I thought diesels weren't sparkers?

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Touche Bob, touche.

Killer! does anybody have any pics of this from a TDI? Perhaps pictures of the Audi R10?

jnecr said:

No, no.. it can't. We're talking about sparks not flames... RX7s are notorious for flames, but not sparks.

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True, but any light show out the exhaust is pretty damn cool