I have had two Flowmaster stainless steel exhaust tips turn yellow on my truck. I have the 5.4 with 3.73 rear. Both times was after towing my travel trailer. I always tow with the O/D off and travelling about 60 mph. The motor usually turns about 2800 rpm.

Are these just poor quality tips or is my exhaust running to hot for some reason?

 

I got chrome tips routed out the back that have not changed color even after working the engine and pulling a trailer. Maybe its a stainless steel thing or your exhaust exits farther upstream and is showing signs of higher exhaust temps...perhaps others have experience with the stainless steel tips?

 

I think its the tips. Flowmasters polished steel isn't that great. Magnaflow tips are the best I ever dealt with.

 

I have SS tips on my truck and they do turn a shade of yellow.
All I do is wipe them when tips are cool and they look new again.
I even clean inside the tips as far as I can too!

 

I tried to polish it with Never Dull. The thing is burned yellow.

Porbably just cheap junk. It was $65.00 and the Ford one is $180 from the dealer.

 

Just Use Eagle One Wire Wheel Cleaner. That should take off the Golding.

 

Nothing wrong with golden tint. I just means the exhaust is hotter than normal when it reached the tip. If your truck's not overheating and you're not continually running in the high RPM range (unless you want to be), it's actually a good thing, as it means your exhaust is retaining its heat (faster flow) thru-out the exhaust system. Do you run an aftermarket exhaust system?

 

One of the local exhaust shops has a neat trick that pretty much eliminates heat staining on stainless tips. (My Alero...finally gone!...and a friends 97 Chevy both had problems with the tips getting heat stains and this trick cured it).

When you have the tips welded on, don't install them at the very end of the exhaust pipe. Mount the tip onto the pipe so that about 1-2" of pipe goes inside the tip.

Before I got them fixed, I used to use Flitz metal polish to clean the stains off of the tips. Was a monthly ritual...

And yes, some of the cheap SS tips are a different alloy and will really stain if your exhaust is still pretty warm at the exit. I've had good luck with the Magnaflow tips. They'll cost a little more money up front but much easier to care for!