Topic: OH THAT EXPLAINS WHY IT WON'T TURN OVER!!!

[CafeDawg]

Have a 76 CB550K that I've been trying to break the engine free on and have been slowly taking it apart as one thing after another doesn't quite get the job done.  Today got down to the cylinders and found this.........




Yup Sunflower seeds.  Somebody has been using the engine as a food cache, they are going to be very disappointed when they come looking for it.  Engine has been sitting forever and just came into my possession and although I knew it hadn't been stored in the most perfect of conditions I was surprised to find a bird feeder inside the engine.  Just not  somethin you see everyday so thought I'd share.

Respect
CD

[Jegs]

Haha nice. A job well done does deserve a tasty treat!

[Billy Bones]

Love that! Now this is the image that's going to be in my head every time I am trying to free a stuck engine. You'd have thought those sunflower seeds would have floated out if you filled the jugs with some kinda kick it free juice.

[mec]

according to the position of the piston, the mouse found its way through the inlet valve
but then the carbslides have to be stuck more than half way open

mec

[killersoundz]

That's bad! My bike I acquired was sitting outside for 2 years. Cylinder 4 was the only thing keeping the motor seized because I think the exhaust valve was open on that one while sitting. Got some rust in there, nothing near as bad as that though. Looks like you'll need to bore that out. I am getting away with a light hone on mine..

[cmonSTART]

   Wow!  That's ugly!

At least you have a snack to much on while you work.

[Lostboy Steve]

I keep seeing these engines and thank my lucky stars that even though mine was sitting forever, it was indoors and the chipmunks never got past the carburetors.

[Don R]

I saw a picture of that on a big dragster engine, the rodents went up the header and piled the grain in the port, it just fell in from there. It was dry but there was enough grain to keep it from turning.

[CafeDawg]

Ya pretty bad.  The Carbs were off and the plug for that cylinder is broken off at the threads so it stayed warm and dry.  Because of that also couldn't get any Acetone, ATF etc into that cylinder.  Was planning on a bore and new pistons anyway so is what it is.

Respect
CD

[MCRider]

according to the position of the piston, the mouse found its way through the inlet valve
but then the carbslides have to be stuck more than half way open

mec

I think it was the exhaust side, with the muffler gone or header not fitted.

OCICBW   

[lucky]

True nutty  stories.

I was invited to go to a neighbors house to look at a Ducati 916.
Beautiful bike. Anyway the owner was showing the bike to me and removed the seat
and when he took the seat off there was a tray underneath the seat with an electronic box and in the tray was two one inch diameter acorns the squirrels had put in there!

Also I had an welding cart and wire feed welder that was new.
A couple weeks later I went to look for the instruction book to get some info, and found
several nuts the squirrels had left there.

And this spring I was in the garage and noticed two acorns sitting behind our hot water heater and it surprised me because I keep that area very clean. Then I took a closer look and next to that was my left over steel tubing and scrap metals.
I moved some of it around and found hundreds of nut shells !

They are busy all the time.
The squirrels probably why I keep leaving tools in their garage! LOL...lol..lol

[Bob Wessner]

I drive a Honda CRV. My wife gets to park in the driveway, I generally park at the curb in front of the house, which just happens to have a large, mature black walnut tree overhanging. I don't recall why I pulled into the driveway one day to do something under the hood. Raised it and couldn't believe my eyes! There were 'hundreds' of walnuts stashed in every nook and cranny of the engine compartment.  It took forever to get them all out, even had to resort to some forceps to reach a few. All were well dried, in the husks, so some squirrel was sure he had found a convenient stash spot for his winter larder. 

[70CB750]

At the car shop we had some insurance body fix - Acura I think. There was a nest in the hood padding, lots of acorns too.

[Lostboy Steve]

Not to bring up automobiles, but when doing a heater-core in a newer Dodge Caravan I found a dead mouse buried waaaaayyyy back behind the dash. The best one for me was doing an after-market intake on a Mustang there was a full sized crow dead laying right by the steering shaft that I didn't notice at first because I was working on the other side of the engine compartment. Scared the crap out of me when I noticed it.

[Teatimetim]

My wife has a chip munk that get in her car from time to time, goes eats the candy out of the glove box, checks under the seats, and claws bewteen the seats all the way to the trunk,  I've look and look, can't find out how the thing gets in, but it is wise to traps.  she has 200k miles on that Kia, so about 50k she gets to get rid of the problem.