General how to clean air filter inlet in my ducato 3 litre 2008 van

[mark pegasus]

hi fiat lovers , i am a fiat lover,
my ducto 3 litre manual , has had rats get into the air filter, unknown to me when i turned it on , no air was going into the engine , most of the chewed air filter i could clean out but , some must have moved into the air intake , blocking it, probably as it will not kick, though the battery turns over.
Does any body know , can the air intake be cleaned , or has it impacted the jets etc does anyone have an idea, my reasons for asking is few ducato mechanic are here in Australia and they may say, , .. mate ,, needs new jets etc , i am hoping avoid this , thank you for your help
best

mark

 

[bugsymike]

hi fiat lovers , i am a fiat lover,
my ducto 3 litre manual , has had rats get into the air filter, unknown to me when i turned it on , no air was going into the engine , most of the chewed air filter i could clean out but , some must have moved into the air intake , blocking it,
Does any body know , can the air intake be cleaned , or has it impacted the jets etc does anyone have View attachment 460025

You could try with a vacuum cleaner thin tube.
Ideally manifold off.
Hopefully mostly paper so less damage.
Diesel injector nozzles/jets are very high pressure so would blow anything away from them.
It is possible if enough got through the manifold it could stop the inlet and exhaust valves from closing properly.

 

[Communicator]

I would not want to poke a vacuum hose through a MAF sensor, which also could already be a casuality.

 

[Jockstrap]

hi fiat lovers , i am a fiat lover,
my ducto 3 litre manual , has had rats get into the air filter, unknown to me when i turned it on , no air was going into the engine , most of the chewed air filter i could clean out but , some must have moved into the air intake , blocking it, probably as it will not kick, though the battery turns over.
Does any body know , can the air intake be cleaned , or has it impacted the jets etc does anyone have an idea, my reasons for asking is few ducato mechanic are here in Australia and they may say, , .. mate ,, needs new jets etc , i am hoping avoid this , thank you for your help
best

mark View attachment 460025

Morning Aussie. You sure it's a ?
I'd expect teeth marks testing the metal frame and nibbles look a bit neat. Otherwise could be hornet or other airborne insect.
If you've got a rat, I'd look for other damage to wires.

 

[mark pegasus]

Morning Aussie. You sure it's a ?
I'd expect teeth marks testing the metal frame and nibbles look a bit neat. Otherwise could be hornet or other airborne insect.
If you've got a rat, I'd look for other damage to wires.

thank you for the reply , no other rats eating pieces , it has come in under the engine into the air filter , that is it but they ate the paper , i turned it on without knowing and no air got in to the engine , it will not start

 

[mark pegasus]

I would not want to poke a vacuum hose through a MAF sensor, which also could already be a casuality.

ok thank you for your reply, what are the alternatives

 

[mark pegasus]

Morning Aussie. You sure it's a ?
I'd expect teeth marks testing the metal frame and nibbles look a bit neat. Otherwise could be hornet or other airborne insect.
If you've got a rat, I'd look for other damage to wires.

no other marks , the rat got into the air filter only , most of it i collected , if i can not use a vacuum cleaner what are the alternatives

 

[mark pegasus]

I would not want to poke a vacuum hose through a MAF sensor, which also could already be a casuality.

thankyou for the reply , what can i do

 

[mark pegasus]

You could try with a vacuum cleaner thin tube.
Ideally manifold off.
Hopefully mostly paper so less damage.
Diesel injector nozzles/jets are very high pressure so would blow anything away from them.
It is possible if enough got through the manifold it could stop the inlet and exhaust valves from closing properly.

thankyou for the reply, what are the alternatives

 

[Communicator]

thankyou for the reply , what can i do

From another forum I have read that debris creared by mice can "Wreak havoc with the MAF sensor". From this I infer that the MAF sensor may have been damaged. Best to remove it and then perhaps vacuum towards turbo. Also it may be helpful remove to remove intercooler inlet hose. This should give a clue as to how far debis has travelled.

 

[Communicator]

May I add, that when you have resolved your current problems, you may wish to add a anti mouse grille to your engine air inlet. This was the subject of a thread, which I think was on the OAL MH forum a few years ago. Cure was to fit a small piece wide mesh gauze across the inlet hose adapter, where it is bolted above the radiator.

 

[bugsymike]

Would the mouse ? have got through the gauze part of the filter or is it shredded paper only that has got ingested?
I would remove the manifolds, hoses etc. to judge how far it has got, check any obvious sensors for damage.
Can you turn the engine over by hand slowly to see if four good compressions. If so then issue may be damage else where.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Would not an intercooler stop debris getting past. If so disconnect the pipes from the intercooler clear the debris. If you have a vacuum that can blow as well as suck tou are in business. If not compressed air? Remove the MAP to prevent damage, then blow the debris back with the air cleaner out and the lid off you should be able to clear it. Use of a camera endoscope before dismantling would be good you could just poke this through teh thottle boddy seat (once removed) and have a look see. Effective cameras are cheap now. I have one that was less than 10 USD

 

[bugsymike]

Would not an intercooler stop debris getting past. If so disconnect the pipes from the intercooler clear the debris. If you have a vacuum that can blow as well as suck tou are in business. If not compressed air? Remove the MAP to prevent damage, then blow the debris back with the air cleaner out and the lid off you should be able to clear it. Use of a camera endoscope before dismantling would be good you could just poke this through teh thottle boddy seat (once removed) and have a look see. Effective cameras are cheap now. I have one that was less than 10 USD

If engine isn't running because it is choked, you could try pulling the pipe to the inlet manifold off to test as engine will run all be it poorly with turbo and intercooler off. You will have to delete any error codes this brings up.
I have done this when clearing oil from a blown turbo that was trapped in the intercooler.

 

[mark pegasus]

thank you , it is being carried to a ducato repair dealership, I can only hope they will not be as wounded as buffalos can be

 

[Communicator]

Sometimes I wonder why we bother.

 

[mark pegasus]

no i would have absolutely no idea except for this site , you guys are great, with the door lock , with information, , you are fantastic , i am not a mechanic and as such am open to being ripped off ,with this site i have an idea of what is needed ,