Ran over a flimsy piece of plastic wrap on the Interstate. It went under the car, but stuck to the exhaust tip. I pulled over and ripped what I could off, but there is a one inch wide swath all around the tip that melted on. I got some off with a utility knife, but that is just too scary to continue. Anyone else have to solve this problem? Any ideas?

 

I haven’t had this problem, but I would be tempted to get my exhaust tip good and hot and then try wiping the plastic off with a cotton rag. It might not work, but it shouldn’t hurt anything.

 

I'd definately try the hot exhaust idea above or use solvents that disolve plastic... maybe some fingernail polish remover? I can't imagine that there is anything on the exhaust system that this would bother and it is much less likely to scratch than the utility knife...

In the case of all lotions/potions/products that you put on your car, start with a small amount and be ready to get it off quickly if needed.

 

Whatever you do, do not under any circumstances put finger nail polish remover on the exhaust tips if the tips are hot only do it if they are completely cool.

 

Acetone and at last resort Toluene.

Both of these can be picked up at your local hardware store. Toluene is an ester solvent that will dissolve plastic.

 

If all else fails, Triple C has new tips for $19.95 and they have 10% off 'til the end of the month.

 

Oh.... be sure the car is totally cool before you use Toluene.

Ever heard of TNT aka Tri-Nitro-Toluene ???

Be careful.

 

Doh!

Good catch on making sure that everything is competely cold before using any solvents! Any of these organic solvents being mentioned are going to be flammable and bad for your skin (at the least it will strip away all the oils on your hand and make it very dry).

Don't smoke while handling! Don't apply to hot surfaces! Make sure there are no ignition sources in the area (ex: running air-compressor motors or thermostats)! Use in a well ventilated area! Be safe! Call your mother! Don't drink and drive! Stop, drop and roll! Duck and cover!

Talk about a post that results in being flamed...

 

Most likely, the plastic is polyethylene. At room temp, there is no known solvent. The PE used in most bags will melt around 250 F, and once melted they can be dissolved pretty easily in non-polar solvents like toluene, hexane, etc., but not acetone. My advice would be to drive the car a bit to melt the plastic, then spray some WD40 liberally on a rag, and rub this into the plastic. Both the solvent and oil of WD40 will soak into the plastic and make it easier to remove, especially while hot. The oil in the WD40 will not evaporate so easily as something like toluene, so it will be safer and also remain on the plastic long enough to dissolve into it. But, I wouldn't be surprised if the WD40 smokes a bit, so watch out for this.

 

Great advice here and worthy of entry into some general knowledge survival guide. I can very easily envision what happened to BurtonCRC happening to me--and often too. Strange that it hasn't happened yet. So I appreciate learning about these remedies for just in case. Isn't it amazing what the brain is capable of storing away? Thanks.

 

Tried inimmini's WD40 idea. Worked on 90 percent of the plastic...mucho thanks! Also gave me an excuse to drive to the DQ for a Blizzard, just to warm up the exhaust tip, of course.

There is a small area that looks like the plastic has burned onto the tip. Black carbon looking. Can't scrape them off with my fingernail even after the WD40 soaked in and the tip was still quite warm.

I think I will try some Chrome Polish next, unless there are better ideas?

 

Classic problem on bikes, but usually it's rubber boot heels or shoe soles that are the culprits. One remedy is to heat up the exhaust and spray it with something like EasyOff oven cleaner. Wear gloves and do not get it on the paint work or it'll take the paint off. Another is to heat up the exhaust and use superfine (0000 grit) steel wool to polish the plastic off. It won't scratch the chrome on bike exhaust, but I don't know whether or not MINI tips are plated the same way, so be cautious or you may end up with a satin finish instead of polished chrome. Which might be a pretty good look, actually.

 

Excellent suggestions in this thread-

I have to laugh when reading about the plastic sheet.

My mistake was at autocross I cover my street wheels and gear with a blue tarp and when I finished my runs I backed up my hot exhaust tips into my blue tarp and melted a section of it onto my tips. I didn't realize it at the time so when it came to packing things up I found my tarp and exhaust were "one".

Fortunately I was able to scrape off the melted blue plastic enough and the driving I did later over a few more days melted some of the stubborn remnants so there is little left of my mistake except for the holes left in the tarp. Now you can hardly tell what happened.

I have a Milltek exhaust and the tips move outward when hot- just be careful if anyone gets too close by accident or you are parking near stuff in the rear.