The previous owner of this car killed it by trying to pull a Uhaul trailer of one of these Colorado mountain passes. Apparently, when the block overheated and the heads warped, all the engine fluids ran out and covered the underbody and exhaust pipes. Now, whenever the exhaust gets warmed up, that coating of goop starts to cook and smells bad enough to make my stomach turn. It's not a problem while I'm moving, but once I stop for a red light or something, the smell gets real bad.

 

Back when I had the exhaust off the car, I sprayed it twice with engine cleaner and hosed it off, but to no avail. Last week, I went to the power wash place and try to blast the crap off with the high-pressure sprayer...that removed some, but there is still a ton left.

 

At this point, I'm contemplating just replacing the whole exhaust with one from a junkyard, but I'm sick of working on this car and I don't want to! I was also thinking of cleaning it off with a grinder with a wire brush wheel, but that might be more trouble than it's worth. Besides, I'm afraid there's probably more stuff under the heat shields as well. (BTW, I know it's not just an exhaust leak...it keeps smoking for several minutes after turning the engine off and I can see the smoke coming right off the goop.)

 

Anyone got ideas I'm missing?

I would knock all of the heat shields off and then degrease it. You will probably end up breaking all the bolts that secure it on but who cares. Just dont park in a pile of leaves or in a really dry area (fire prevention).