Hi

I have a 05 xj and it has been in storage for quite some time. Today I started it up for the first time in about a month, in storage I put duct tape in front of the air intake to make sure no mice get in there. So today I started the engine without realizing I had the tape blocking air flow and I took it for about a 5-10 minute drive around the block and the car was driving fine, but I had the duct tape blocking the air intake, could I have done any harm to the engine in those five to ten minutes?

Thanks for your input!

I feel so stupid.

 

Hi JaguarXKR,

No reason to feel stupid about something so easy to forget after such a long time. Most of us probably would have also forgotten.

My guess is that the engine intake suction was sufficient to move the duct tape along one edge or at a seam to inhale the air it needed to run. If you had the duct tape on in a double layer and especially well-sealed around the edges, it is also possible that a plastic air intake pipe could have collapsed at a seam under the suction, so it would be worth inspecting all the intake plumbing for signs of anything amiss.

Chances are you did no harm, but it would also be prudent to scan the system for any fault codes that may have been triggered.

Let us know what you find.

Cheers,

Don

 

I agree with Don. The engine clearly tool air in or wouldn't have run or at worst would have sputtered and stalled as it would have starved for air and failed to ignite a spark. You didn't damage anything

 

You'll be fine, other than your pride

We've all done such things.
My trick is to tape a note to the steering wheel to remind me what to do before driving.

 

look on the bright side - at least it didn't suck the duct tape into the engine.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Sorry one more quick question. Could lack of air of lead to the engine running hot? The temp gauge never moved past middle, but my thinking is lack of air, could it have been running hot? I only ran it for 20 minutes top.

Thanks,
Mike

 

The only thing you have damaged is the duct tape ..don't worry .

 

Hi Mike,

If you didn't have duct tape over the radiator, only the engine air intake, then it is very unlikely that the engine overheated. The Engine Control Module (ECM) has the ability to adjust the fuel injector pulse width or "ON" time in response to reduced intake air flow (as measured by the Mass Air Flow Sensor, or MAFS). Unless there are any Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) stored in the computer, it is likely that you've done no lasting harm, and even if there are DTCs stored, it is likely that if you clear them they will not reappear now that you've removed the duct tape.

Cheers,

Don

 

Maybe you need two pussycats to sleep with your 'cat' to keep the mice and rats away !!

 

Look at it this way - if restricting the airflow could harm the engine there would be millions of damaged cars in the shop due to dirty air filters. I once knew someone who bought a new car and drove it for 7 years and 130,000 miles. Air filter changes - zero. Oil changes - zero. Tuneups - zero. I wouldn't want to own that car, but it was still running fine when he sold it.