You Won’t Believe What He Finds In His Engine!

His Jeep started running rough a few months ago, so he finally took part of the engine apart to see if it was dirty; you won't believe what he finds!

Here's the story:  I bought the Jeep a few years ago from a guy in Breaux Bridge.  He couldn't get it running, so he sold it to me cheap.  I brought it to my friend Mike who has worked on Jeeps for several years, and he had it running the next day!

After a few weeks of other work (changing the fuel tank, radiator, battery, starter, brakes, etc), I started using it as my daily driver.

Fast forward 1 1/2 years to February: the Jeep started giving me problems: it wouldn't idle, it wouldn't drop out of overdrive when I tried to pass someone - it had become sluggish.

I finally took the time to work on it, and decided to change a few components on the throttle body (the Idle Air Control Valve and the Throttle Position Sensor).  When I took off the air breather hose to remove the throttle body, this is what I see:

It was a mud dauber's nest!!  I know how lucky I am that the nest didn't fall apart and get into the intake, that would have done some damage!

It appears that the nest was built on the air intake hose, and, from the heat of the engine, had baked there for the past 2 years, making the dirt VERY hard.  Had the nest fallen any sooner, it probably would have broken apart and ruined my engine!

Let this be a lesson for anyone who is working on their vehicle (or any other machine): plug up any holes with a rag or bag to prevent FOD!!

(Google)