Ok, to make a long story short, a piece of rubber (picture a dime but with a hole in the middle.. similar dimensions) from my Comptech short ram intake managed to get sucked into the throttle body of my car. I didn't notice it till a few hours ago and the car seems fine. (Could have happened a few hours to a few days ago.)

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Since the car seems fine, I hope it went through the entire system and got pushed out the exhaust. Is that likely? (PLEASE!!!) What other scenarios could there be? (Stuck in a manifold? Melted in a cylinder? Etc..) Any advice on what to do? I'd rather not rip apart the engine, since the car seems fine. Thanks for reading this. Looking forward to good advice and possibly a side dose of laughter.. hehe

-94GSRNewbie



[Modified by 94GSRNewbie, 2:24 PM 7/18/2001]

 

You're probably going to have to pull off the intake manifold to make it's not lodged in one of the runners. Then if the rubber is not there, chances are you might have to pull off the entire head. A day's work if you know what you're doing, otherwise $$$ to have to pay someone else do it.

 

Just start the car up and run the **** out of it... that piece of rubber should burn up and shoot out the tailpipe...

*WARNING* this is a joke. Do not actually try this.

 

I don't think this would happen and I think you already know why. But how do you know it got sucked in and didn't just fall off the car? It didn't seem like you saw it get sucked in. Anyway, the reason I ask is that if a piece of something get sucked in for sure, then I would pull off the intake and see if it's in the throttle body. If not you might have to pull the intake manifold to see if it's there. For some reason, I kinda don't think it would make it's way into the cylinders if your car is still running well.

 

Ironically, I probably inadvertently did just that as I was testing out the car with the new intake... argh... Here's hoping it really did shoot out...

In a worst case scenario, if it made it into a cylinder and melted, could it cause a cylinder to seize? Or would I just get a black melted mess gummed up on the side of a cylinder wall?

 

You're right, red97gsr, I'm not 100% if it got sucked in... BUT, it's VERY probable.

The piece of rubber I'm talking about is actually part of the pre-mounted rubber piece that sticks out of the Comptech intake. You're supposed to push the breather line into this piece to secure it. I scored the inside edge of the piece ( a small lip ) that secures it when I tried to put the rubber piece back on the intake pipe (it popped out) ... so it was already a little loose. I thought it would hold until I got a replacement, but next thing i know, i see the rubber piece dangling and it's missing the inner piece (the lip that secures it). So, I'm thinking it probably got sucked in... Since I don't know when it happened (max, 2 days ago).. it could have dislodged for a while. But I have driven a bit since then..

Ok, looks like I'll definitely be pulling off the throttle body. As for the intake manifold, HOW HARD IS IT TO REMOVE IT? Looks like the injectors and fuel rail have to come off... and maybe some hoses. The bottom nuts that secure the manifold to the head look like they're impossible to get to. And when all's said and done, I probably can't reuse the manifold to head gasket, right? Oh boy....

-94GSRNewbie


[Modified by 94GSRNewbie, 2:20 PM 7/15/2001]

 

daqmn, that just sucks...

anyway, i doubt it got past the valves...trying to use my imagination (im not quite sure on its size) but im willing to bet it didnt...personally i think thats where you'll find it, on the intake side, in your head, up against a a valve stem...more than likely in cyl. 1 or 2...it SHOULD stay just cool enought not to melt...but either way, you're waaaay better safe than sorry, GET IT OUT!

if it made its way into a cylinder, it'll gunk and get charred, and i'm willing to bet, bent the valve making its way into the cylinder..in any case its gonna rob a bit of efficiency (ower)

it wont seize but it will make your car run worse...

good luck...and afternoon of wrenching will ease your worries

 

Thanks SurgeGT.. you're right.. better safe than sorry..

I'm looking at the Helm's manual right now and it really says practically nothing about removing the intake manifold. Do I need to drain my coolant? Do I need to remove the oil filter? How do I get to the 4 nuts on the bottom half of the manifold? I'll definitely need new gaskets, right? Anybody have any good pointers?

Also, if it is in fact resting on a valve, do you think i could reach into the hole on the intake side (after the intake manifold is gone) and dig it out?

I'm open to all suggestions.. Thanks again for all the help guys.

-94GSRNewbie

 

Do you have a shop vac?

You can buy adapters for the end of a shop vac, and themn fit some tubing (like the stuff you buy at a hardware store by the foot) onto the adapter. I'm not sure how large the piece you are looking for is, but a good1.5" ID tubing would be ablt to get inside the Plenum and into the runners. You can also buy a tiny dentist like mirror that swivels on a stick, and using a flashlight look around in there.

I'd buy the shop vac, and then when you are done, take it back and say it didn't work as well as you hoped.

Best wishes

 

My guess would be it dint make it inside the cylinders because it would have to get in there when the valves open..and the ydont open alot..so it probably didnt gte in there. Hopefully its not melted to a valve stem or blocking gas from getting in the cylinder.

 

piece of rubber the size of a dime? i would say it got sucked in, burned up, and thrown out the exhaust

 

Hey WOTTEG: The shop vac idea is a great idea!

Now if the rubber piece is resting on an intake valve in the head, do you guys think a 6 hp shop vac has the power to suck it out of the throttle body?

That would save me a whole afternoon worth of work this weekend... Then again, I could go through all this trouble and find it never got sucked in or made it through and got burnt to crisp in a cylinder... haha

-94GSRNewbie



[Modified by 94GSRNewbie, 11:03 PM 7/16/2001]

 

UPDATE: I tried the vacuum idea with a 6.25 hp shop vac...

Attached vac hose to throttle body using duct tape, etc..
Held throttle wide open.
Took out spark plugs.
Ran vacuum while slowly turning crankshaft.
Repeated a few times sometimes holding open secondary runner open and alternating cranking fast and slow.

RESULT: Nothing came out. All 4 spark plugs I removed looked fine too. They all looked the same.

So I'm inclined to say the little piece is either melted and stuck on a valve, got burnt to crisp in the cylinder, never got sucked into the intake, or got flushed out the exhaust...

Either way, I think I'm done. I don't anticipate taking off the intake manifold, since I don't think I'd be able to get to it if it was melted on a valve anyway...

THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR YOUR HELP THESE PAST FEW DAYS! I really appreciate it!

Just for reference (so you know what I've been referring to), below are some pics I took of the rubber piece. You'll notice where the lip got ripped off. The stack of coins in the last picture is to show how thick the lip woulda been and what the diameter was (imagine another lip with similar dimensions to the existing one). It's job was to hold the piece in place to the pipe. The lip was actually part of the piece that ripped off (the total height of the entire piece is the same as it is now.. the lip was part of the rim)





This is kinda what the lip looked like.. The intake tube was pinned in between the lip and the existing lip on the piece.

- 94GSRNewbie


[Modified by 94GSRNewbie, 5:32 AM 7/18/2001]

 

Good imagination...makes wanna cry just imagining it myself. OUCH.

 

If a piece of rubber that size got sucked into the motor, you would know for sure.

 

So the lip taht ripped off was on the inside of the tube (before it broke) right?

Here's Hoping that everything is cleared up!

The inside of the cat looks like a mesh, or a sponge, or a grille right? so if the piece did go through the engine, It would endu up there?

PS. . . call, or write the company and tell them about what happened! This is recall material! If that happened to someone, and it made a valve stick half-open-half-closed. . . then there would be combustion outside the chamber!

Whoever made that intake should issue a recall, just like AEM did with their bypass valves.

Viva La Revolution!

Karl

 

Haha.. WOTTEG, you crack me up dude... And yes, the lip that ripped off was secured on the inside of the tube before it ripped off. Like I said, at one point it popped out (my fault), and in the process of putting the piece back in, the lip tore a little (that metal is sharp). Little did I know that little tear would cause me so much grief! IRONICALLY, I got the replacement piece the same day I examined the car and found the breather line dangling off the intake with the rubber piece in its severed state....

As for putting blame on the company, I don't think I would. I'm the one that tore the lip, remember? But thanks for the idea anyway...

Thanks again everybody for your advice. Right now I'm so tempted to take off the intake manifold just to be sure. All this talk of gummed up and bent valves is freakin me out!

ONE LAST QUESTION: After removing the intake manifold, would my fingers be able to reach into the intake holes to feel for the rubber piece if it's resting against a valve? Or is the end of the valve deeper then that? I guess I could use a toothbrush if I had to. Point is, if it's possible to reach that deep to check for sure and remove it (even if it's melted), I'll do it. If not, I won't bother.

-94GSRNewbie