My car has inhaled a mouse nest.
Discussion
After swapping my induction kit back to the standard air box this evening I went out for a quick run to check everything was tickety bo. All seemed well until after about 3 miles the throttle jammed open. Upon removing the air box I found a bit of a plastic bag stuck in the throttle, and on further inspection the remains of a mouse nest in the airbox, the wrong side of the air filter!
It seems in the 6 months that the airbox has been sat on a garage shelf, a mouse had made residence in it.
Assuming there was a bit more mouse nest material (leaves, straw and bits of chewed plastic bag. Hopefully no mice...) in the airbox before I discovered it, and this has been drawn into my engine, what's likely to happen? The car still runs fine and pulls ok but does seem a little restricted. I'm not sure wether this is down to the airbox being quieter and more restrictive than the induction kit though.
Anyone tried one of those automotive endoscopes? Will the suction of the engine be enough to draw that kind of debris past the inlet valves? I presume it won't get back out of past the exhaust valves so will just be incinerated sat atop a piston.
Ironically one of the reason for swapping things abound was because I was concerned that the filter in the induction kit wasn't fine enough and was letting the engine draw in dust...
It seems in the 6 months that the airbox has been sat on a garage shelf, a mouse had made residence in it.
Assuming there was a bit more mouse nest material (leaves, straw and bits of chewed plastic bag. Hopefully no mice...) in the airbox before I discovered it, and this has been drawn into my engine, what's likely to happen? The car still runs fine and pulls ok but does seem a little restricted. I'm not sure wether this is down to the airbox being quieter and more restrictive than the induction kit though.
Anyone tried one of those automotive endoscopes? Will the suction of the engine be enough to draw that kind of debris past the inlet valves? I presume it won't get back out of past the exhaust valves so will just be incinerated sat atop a piston.
Ironically one of the reason for swapping things abound was because I was concerned that the filter in the induction kit wasn't fine enough and was letting the engine draw in dust...
Prob not much help but id send next doors cat in there just to make sure.
on a serious note i assume you drove it back home therefore what ever was in there has done what its gonna do apart from pulling the head i cant see theres much you can do, cant really see how anything would make it into the oil without wrecking the engine?
on a serious note i assume you drove it back home therefore what ever was in there has done what its gonna do apart from pulling the head i cant see theres much you can do, cant really see how anything would make it into the oil without wrecking the engine?
It depends how abrasive the nesting material was and if any of it was fibrous so it got wrapped around stuff. I used to run cars with ram-stacks on the carbs with gauze covers (until they blew off when the carbs backfired) I probably sucked bees and all sorts in there afterwards but it did the engine no real harm.
Depending on how much crud you think went in there I would do an engine oil change - hot engine let it all drain out and inspect, engine flush then flush using cheap oil before going for a decent oil change if you are at all worried. You could take the sump and rocker off to do a basic check without pulling the engine to bits, I cleaned out the sump on my triumph and it was like gritty treacle at the bottom, there was no way that would have come out by just draining the oil and was probably contaminating any fresh oil change I did, doubt you'll need to go this far though. In some countries with harsher environments it's fairly usual for the oil/filter services to be much closer because they are sucking more dust / sand in.
Depending on how much crud you think went in there I would do an engine oil change - hot engine let it all drain out and inspect, engine flush then flush using cheap oil before going for a decent oil change if you are at all worried. You could take the sump and rocker off to do a basic check without pulling the engine to bits, I cleaned out the sump on my triumph and it was like gritty treacle at the bottom, there was no way that would have come out by just draining the oil and was probably contaminating any fresh oil change I did, doubt you'll need to go this far though. In some countries with harsher environments it's fairly usual for the oil/filter services to be much closer because they are sucking more dust / sand in.
Did this on a mondeo TD except i sucked a few mice through the engine 
detroyed the turbo but never touched the oil 
anything going into the head will be burnt, plastic may end up as lump on the combustion chamber roof but i would be VERY surprised if anything made it into the oil, i meen the fuel and air can't make it past the rings so why would anything larger than a fuel/air atom ??
I'm not sure an endospcop would make it past the valve but i would deffinatly claean out the throtle body and especialy the intercooler and amybe pop tghe hose off the turbo and inspect the vains for damage.
Fuel in the oil is either bore wear or the injectors are dribbling when the engine is off, the top piston ring is pushed against the bore wall by the pressure of the compressed charge so when running will (or should be) a gas tight seal.
detroyed the turbo but never touched the oil anything going into the head will be burnt, plastic may end up as lump on the combustion chamber roof but i would be VERY surprised if anything made it into the oil, i meen the fuel and air can't make it past the rings so why would anything larger than a fuel/air atom ??I'm not sure an endospcop would make it past the valve but i would deffinatly claean out the throtle body and especialy the intercooler and amybe pop tghe hose off the turbo and inspect the vains for damage.
Fuel in the oil is either bore wear or the injectors are dribbling when the engine is off, the top piston ring is pushed against the bore wall by the pressure of the compressed charge so when running will (or should be) a gas tight seal.
Edited by NHK244V on Thursday 24th February 00:20
Cheers for the advice so far. It's due an oil change anyway so I'll see what I find in there, although I'm not sure any of the relatively light stuff in the nest would have made it that far.
Luckily there's no turbo to worry about but I'll pop the inlet off to make sure it's not got any obstructions. I'm hoping anything that could have happened will have happened though. Surely the combustion temperatures are more than enough to burn anything organic or plastic? So there shouldn't be any lasting issues...
In the mean time, your all welcome to have a laugh at my expense
I've put a block of cheese in the tailpipe to lure out any mice. 
Luckily there's no turbo to worry about but I'll pop the inlet off to make sure it's not got any obstructions. I'm hoping anything that could have happened will have happened though. Surely the combustion temperatures are more than enough to burn anything organic or plastic? So there shouldn't be any lasting issues...
In the mean time, your all welcome to have a laugh at my expense
I've put a block of cheese in the tailpipe to lure out any mice. Defcon5 said:
Why do we have such fine air filters then?
To stop the build up of burnt deposits in the combustion chamber which can cause hot spots and lead to pre ignition, in the same way old carb engines needed de coking every few years although that was due to unburnt fuel, solid particulates will do the same only quicker and any caught on the valve seat will cause pitting and a loss of compression slipstream 1985 said:
do you notice an funny rattles or squeeks when the engine is running?
Funny you should mention that. There is a funny rattle that seems to remain at a steady speed regardless of engine speed, and wasn't there before the mouse incident. Any ideas?All the squeaks have gone quiet now.
busta said:
slipstream 1985 said:
do you notice an funny rattles or squeeks when the engine is running?
Funny you should mention that. There is a funny rattle that seems to remain at a steady speed regardless of engine speed, and wasn't there before the mouse incident. Any ideas?All the squeaks have gone quiet now.
i recon a new exhaust would solve the problem.
mongoose do a nice one for your car
Edited by slipstream 1985 on Thursday 24th February 00:40
Defcon5 said:
Why do we have such fine air filters then?
Grit and other abrasive particles will cause premature bore and valve seat wear. Driving around on open trumpets is a good way to severely reduce the life of your engine. The useless gauze covers you sometimes see on trumpets do two things: 1) stop large rocks entering induction system, whilst still allowing the damaging grit through, and 2) restrict airflow, and therefore power. Basically they are useless.slipstream 1985 said:
well obviously it wouldnt be there before the mouse incident. a snakes gone in there after your mouse. hence why you cant hear the mouse anymore but still the rattles.
i recon a new exhaust would solve the problem.
mongoose do a nice one for your car
Well thought out i recon a new exhaust would solve the problem.
mongoose do a nice one for your car
Edited by slipstream 1985 on Thursday 24th February 00:40
Whitty in the extream
but still terrable !
NHK244V said:
To stop the build up of burnt deposits in the combustion chamber which can cause hot spots and lead to pre ignition, in the same way old carb engines needed de coking every few years although that was due to unburnt fuel, solid particulates will do the same only quicker and any caught on the valve seat will cause pitting and a loss of compression
What?You may have to suck the oil up through the dipstick tube now because the mouse that bypassed your piston rings will be diving to the bottom of the sump with its nesting material towards the drain plug . Either that or its got its front legs jammed hard against your inlet tract watching the inlet valve going up and down thinking f
k st bks
k st bksMr2Mike said:
Grit and other abrasive particles will cause premature bore and valve seat wear. Driving around on open trumpets is a good way to severely reduce the life of your engine. The useless gauze covers you sometimes see on trumpets do two things: 1) stop large rocks entering induction system, whilst still allowing the damaging grit through, and 2) restrict airflow, and therefore power. Basically they are useless.
I have personally seen the bores of a 160,000 mile engine run on nothing but metal gauze and they were spotless. Such fine air filtration is only really needed in desert type conditions with a LOT of fine dust in the air , in the UK its not really that needed. I have also seen the bores on a 135,0000 mile engine run on a oiled k&n filter , that was similarly clean .
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