Customer's engine rebuild got a surprise ingredient... my cat's toy

I had this guy bring in a 1998 Ford Ranger last Tuesday that was smoking like a freight train. He said he just rebuilt the top end himself and it started fine but then got weird. I popped the hood and heard this faint rattling from the intake. Pulled the air filter box and there it was: a neon green squeaky mouse toy sitting right in the throttle body. Turns out his cat knocked it off the workbench and it fell straight into the intake while the filter was off. I fished it out with a pair of long pliers, ran a quick compression test, and everything checked out fine. The guy was so embarrassed he offered me an extra $50 on top of the diagnostic fee. Has anyone else pulled something ridiculous out of an engine bay? I once found a child's sock lodged in a cabin air filter on a Honda Civic.

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2 Comments

sean_martin442mo ago

Gotta push back a little here. A neon green squeaky toy falling straight into the throttle body without catching on anything else sounds like a freak accident, but maybe he left the intake open and walked away for a bit. I've seen guys drop bolts and screws down intakes when they're not paying attention, but a whole toy? That's a new level of bad luck or just plain carelessness. Did you check if the cat was still hanging around the shop after you pulled it out?

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angela1912mo ago

Maybe @sean_martin44 is right but could the cat have stashed it in there on purpose?

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