Dear Tom and Ray:

This evening I cleaned the manifold of my '93 Taurus using a spray-type manifold cleaner. As I was spraying the stuff into the manifold while the car was running, the little red nozzle extension was sucked off and proceeded to shoot down the intake manifold into the engine. I shut off the car and went inside to panic for a while. I just went out to assess the damage. I turned the car on, and it seems to be running fine, except for the smell of burning plastic. So, is that little plastic thing going to ruin my engine? --Jeff

Tom: Probably not, Jeff. But my guess is that the plastic thing made it all the way into one of your cylinders. That's the burning plastic smell.

Ray: Right. Thanks to those top-notch engineers at Ford, there's a nice, free flow from the manifold right into the cylinders. And that thing probably got sucked right in.

Tom: My guess is that it will eventually burn up completely, Jeff.

Ray: But if you're really worried about it, I'm sure somebody probably sells a spray that dissolves the melted plastic in your cylinders. It probably comes with one of those plastic nozzle extenders!

What's the best way to warm up your engine in the morning? Find out by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1998 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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