A strange powder...

chjade84

Member
I found this on the floor of the garage today beneath the engine. What could it be?! My only thought was clutch material (I sure hope not!) but I've never seen anything like this before...

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It's about 8" in diameter, near the center of the car and near where the manifolds connect to the rest of the exhaust.
 
I brought in a small sample and started looking it over.

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Then I got the idea to see if it was attracted to a magnet -- sure was! So I think that rules out clutch material (there's no iron in that, right?). The exhaust is stainless steel and that's not magnetic... The block is aluminum/magnesium so that's out. Flywheel should be aluminum, no? Hmmm...
 
No idea what it could be I'm afraid! Nice thought with the magnet! I reckon you should get underneath and have a look.


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Maybe it was something you drove over that was mildly attracted to your sump plug?

Just a random guess though, as why would it then loose attraction :|
 
Looks like iron filings/rust to me... ? Would get under the car and look for source....
 
Well I got under the car and started poking around. The only thing I saw that seemed to be causing it was the cast iron exhaust coupling from the headers to the exhaust. If I tapped it with my flashlight I would get tiny pieces of the same rusty material to come off in my hand. My thought is maybe that hanger expands while on the road due to the heat and as it cools and shrinks in the garage tiny pieces of metal flake off.

The only problem with that theory is that it seems the pile of dust is a little farther forward than the exhaust. But everything else looks clean - and not made of iron....


WHY put a single iron part on an otherwise stainless/aluminum/magnesium system? I mean the entire underside of the Z is beautifully done. All aluminum and stainless, all of the bolts are perfect - nice and shiny - probably very easy to remove. Then there's this corroded mess of a coupling with the bolts rusted in. WHY?! I'd have paid $20 more for an aluminum coupling...




-- On a side note, where is the pound sign on your keyboards? We have the dollar as shift+4 but no pound sign in sight - and I've never seen an 'English-spec' keyboard. --
 
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