Steve Zitelli

My 76 Euro 911 has been sitting in the garage all winter with a battery tender on the battery.Usually I take short runs in the winter but in the fall I stripped the paint off the fender and door and removed the hardware to prepare if for paint.Anyway I started it the other day and after the car warmed up I got a smell of burning wood.I shut it down and started investigating with a drop light.I found broken acorns on the engine case behind the alt housing.Also I pulled off the hoses and crushed nuts fell out of them.Mostly from the hose that runs from passenger side heat exchanger across the alt to the aux. fan.Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do? Is it possible that this could have gotten into the engine? I'm also afraid of an engine fire.BTW once the car warmed up it sounded and ran fine with no unusal noises.

Amber Gramps

I would start with blowing compressed air up in the cooling fins from underneath the engine where the oil return tubes are. you may want to remove the fan from the alternator and find a small vacuum to stick down it there. Not a big deal. Sounds kinda fun. We have palm trees and no squirels. Now, if you hear squirel screams, you have trouble...

Edgy01

This is a very common problem is select parts of the country when you have to park your baby for longer than you should! What you discovered, fortunately, was fairly minor. It's the RATS and MICE who do a lot of damage as they have a taste for wiring insulation...

A trap and bait placed at each tire may help.

newsboy

This has happened to my other vehicles, especially when you go out for short runs. The varmints like the warm engine, and deposit their stuff. Placing mothballs in strategic spots helps. I also placed a wire cage over the air inlet. Wouldn't want acorns down there.

Mike S.

Varmint nesting can really plug up the cylinder cooling and cause you associated problems. There was a great pic of this on RL or PP last year.Make sure you get it all out.

Mike

Sailmed

+1 on the mothballs! We moved into 5 acres and had RATS - They were everywhere - last thing I needed with all the cars
Mothballs - cheap and effective - just make sure your dogs don't develop a taste for them

84_Carrera

Look for the plastic-housing kind that hold round discs of mothball material. The dogs can't directly lick / eat the innards (at least not quickly, you have time to notice & keep them from eating), and they do the job nicely. I also have traps in my garage. After re-doing the floor & walls, etc., I caught only 1 mouse this winter. YAY!

Steve Zitelli

Thanks for all the reponses.I've pretty much determined that they are probaly in my heater exchangers,because the only time I smell or see smoke is when I'm in the cabin of the car with the heat on.I really don't want to to take off the heat exchangers.If I just run the car to burn off the nuts is there a danger of an engine fire???