Exhaust question

[Bernard Littau]

The joke in my dad's youth was to put a potato up the exhaust pipe of
someone's car to keep it from starting.  It only really worked on a 2 stroke
engine, which many cars in Europe had back then.

I tried it on my mom's Datsun 510 back in the early 70's.  A potato was
expelled easily when the starter motor was engaged.  I did manage to keep
the car from starting with a appropriately sized carrot shoved up the
exhaust pipe.

I doubt a banana would do even as well as a potato.

Best,

Bernard Littau
Woodinville, WA
'88 5ktq

> "We're not gonna fall for a banana in the tailpipe!"
>
> Didn't you see the movie Beverly Hills Cop?  :P
>
> In that movie, a car dies shortly after startup because bananas plug up
> the tailpipe.
>
> I know movies aren't always realistic, but it seemed reasonable to me that
> it would do that.
>
> Ken
>
> Yoder, Doug yoderw at msoe.edu
>
> In theory, if the exhaust system were plugged up enough (say, by a bad
> cat...), could it prevent the engine from running?
> I ask, because that's what I think, but want confirmation as I am not
> very familiar with the theory of cars... I know how to take things
> apart, but I have never had someone to learn from for diagnosis/etc...
> TIA,
> -Doug