Hello all. I have a 2005 ford F250 triton v8. We live on a farm and unfortunately rats are a problem here. Already working on prevention tactics ie putting metal mesh on the air intake but currently we have an issue. Started truck this am and it kind of choked as it started. Should have turned it off immediately but hind sight is 20/20 lol. Pulled the air filter and there was a softball sized hole chewed out of the middle and the nest was sucked inside the intake manifold. Immediately i got the crescent wrench error on my dash and realized how serious it was. I have already pulled the cover of the intake manifold to get to the throttle plates. There was some of the paper from the filter stuck in the throttle plates. The truck has electronic throttle cable so was able to open them with just turning the key and having someone press the gas while i fished out what i could but bulk of nest is in the manifold. Could i possibly block one side of the throttle plate and use a strong wet/dry vac to suck the paper out of the other side? Trying to avoid having to pull entire manifold. I need the truck asap and am tight on funds. I did initially try resetting the key but that did not clear the error code although after i cleared the paper out of the throttle plates it did start without the code but runs extremely rough. It is starving for air and trys to stall. Thank you guys. I already got a lot from you all here and y'all are a god send!!!

 

you will not like this

pull intake.. pull spark plugs. but if stuff is stuck to the intake valve stems.. heads will need to be removed....

I have done many on motorcycles.. carb and fuel injected..... thin wire mesh is useless for them,, multi-layers are needed.. at the throttle body
seen them chew thru K&N air filter metal mesh......

 

Yeah that's going to be a job. If you're on a farm and you have a legit mouse problem that some poison won't stop, seriously consider getting some male cats. They'll fight and make a lot of noise, but if you keep them just a little underfed they'll be driven to hunt the little rodents down. The small amount of cat food required would cost less than poison, be more effective, and ultimately save you money on vehicle repair.

 

Shoot. You guys were supposed to have uplifting messages of happiness. lol So no definitely to the vacuum cleaner idea. We are pulling the intake today. My friend who is a mechanic said if it got in the cylinder that it would chew it up and not to worry? maybe? It was larger pieces of paper that I have found thus far so no hay or fine particles thank god. We do have a livestock guardian dog that loves killing rats and we have cats but they have reduced the amount but we have more. Neighbors own a slaughter farm and the rats come from next door which sucks. thank you so much for all the feedback. If anyone has any other tips or information I appreciate it!!

 

I think I'd be more concerned about the larger parts getting stuck in the valve. Anything small enough to get vacuumed through and into the piston will be torched and exhausted without much effort. A big enough chunk of paper in the Intake Valve/Port will not be good. But, on the upside, you'll know because you won't be firing on that cylinder anymore.

 

yes.. more blockage then real damage... and a BIG PAIN...

mice, rats, chipmunks ... any of them little warm blooded critters making a home anywhere they like.
even inside car and motorcycle seats.. car/truck heater boxes .. mufflers and tail pipes....
even between the air conditioning condenser and the radiator...

hell, 2 winters ago.. made a home inside the transmission of my Snow Blower... ... locked that sucker right up.

take off the intake.. maybe you got lucky... long needle nose pliers..