black soot under side of hood

[neal3d]

I don't see any oil leaks. wondering where this soot originates? tail pipe clean a a whistle.

[WeeYari]

Got pics?

[tmontague]

Exhaust leak from the header or first donut gasket? Where under the hood is it?

[LugNut]

I just repaired another car with similar on various parts of the hood. It was a warped head and bad head gasket due to overheating. Hopefully your is a much simplier problem!