2002 installed nest under engine cowlings

[stevedaphotoman]

Last evening I took the V8 plastic cowling off for the first time and looked underneith to find some kind of a nest of fibers on the drivers side of the engine block.. OK, am I dumb but is this a cridder nest or some sort of 2002 experiment in engine damping or something.. The hood insulation is perfectly intact.. The nest material it is pretty clean and dry..



Thanks in advance.. I'm standing by with forcipts..

 

[soulchop]

Looks like a mouse nest. I leave my hood open whenever parked in the garage. And put a couple of dryer sheets in there for extended periods of storage. I also leave the engine cover off over winter.

 

[stevedaphotoman]

Looks like a mouse nest. I leave my hood open whenever parked in the garage. And put a couple of dryer sheets in there for extended periods of storage. I also leave the engine cover off over winter.

Good ideas.. I will do that next winter.. yes I have left the hood closed and covered it with a car cover. I do pull it out every month during the winter and run it for 20 to 30 minutes.. I did do the drier sheets in the trunk and passenger compartment.. I will add them to the engine compartment too.. I will have to have a talk to our cat!

 

[Elsie]

If it's a mouse nest fire the cat. LOL My neighbor's cat would occasionally sleep in my car. I would leave the top down and she would hop in and sleep on drivers seat. I guess she got in the garage when I would raise and lower the overhead door without me knowing.

One night I got in Tbird and started to sit down - scared the crop out of me, the cat was sleeping in front seat.

On a side note - anybody know where I can get a couple of those "nuts" that hold the V8 engine compartment/cover down. My cover/compartment just lays on top, the "nuts" have been stripped.

 

[stevedaphotoman]

On a side note - anybody know where I can get a couple of those "nuts" that hold the V8 engine compartment/cover down. My cover/compartment just lays on top, the "nuts" have been stripped.

I bought some on Amazon a couple years ago.. they had them on Ebay cheaper. When I get home I will try to find where I got them from..

As a side bar I got the nest out of there.. but there seemed to be some foam wrapped in plastic right behind the nest.. could or should there be a foam like seat foam wrapped in plastic on the engine block / intake manafold or was that Mickey mouse getting really creative..

 

[stevedaphotoman]

I bought mine from FordParts Direct. com.. The part # is Clip - Ford (-W705956-S300) Just google the part #

W705956-S300 ​

and you will com across a bunch of possible suppliers.. Like I said Ford Parts Direct was a bit expensive, E-bay was cheaper

 

[Tbird Harley 03]

If it's a mouse nest fire the cat. LOL My neighbor's cat would occasionally sleep in my car. I would leave the top down and she would hop in and sleep on drivers seat. I guess she got in the garage when I would raise and lower the overhead door without me knowing.

One night I got in Tbird and started to sit down - scared the crop out of me, the cat was sleeping in front seat.

On a side note - anybody know where I can get a couple of those "nuts" that hold the V8 engine compartment/cover down. My cover/compartment just lays on top, the "nuts" have been stripped.

Advance auto parts can get them, but I ended up just getting them directly from ford dealer they were about ten bucks a piece for the factory original ones and not aftermarket, I ordered them in a Monday and had them on Wednesday.

 

[cdbintexas]

Last evening I took the V8 plastic cowling off for the first time and looked underneith to find some kind of a nest of fibers on the drivers side of the engine block.. OK, am I dumb but is this a cridder nest or some sort of 2002 experiment in engine damping or something.. The hood insulation is perfectly intact.. The nest material it is pretty clean and dry..

View attachment 4056 View attachment 4057

Thanks in advance.. I'm standing by with forcipts..

In my not so humble opinion it is not an automobile design feature.

 

[stevedaphotoman]

In my not so humble opinion it is not an automobile design feature.

You know I got all the mouse nest out but I also took out some of that other stuff that looked like a pad. It looked like seating foam material wrapped in saran wrap or plastic wrap.. I got about 50% of that out but there is still some in there towards the back of the engine.. I will drive by my Ford dealer and have them take a look at it.. It is to the right if the air intake manafold sitting on the block and the valve covers and cover for the COP is to the right.. It is tucked down there so I can't get a photo of it.. I have never seen this before, but i have never tore apart an engine before.. I can't imagine what it could be..

 

[stevedaphotoman]

Well yesterday my 2002 T-Bird went in to the dealer for NY State inspection.. I had them check whereMickey Mouse built his house right to the right of the intake manifold.. Sure enough there is a insulation block installed at the factory just behind where Mickey was setting up residence.. The mechanic said that there was nothing to worry about having removed about a 2” piece of it.. He was also not completely sure why they would put that foam insulation (like that out if a seat cushion) wrapped in clear heavy gage plastic wrap. Perhaps an engineers idea of a very inexpensive inner cooler..

BTW NY State is going to allow my to dive my T-Bird for another year.. It passed inspection.