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Never be so stupid as I was
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james_s:
I would have just put it back together and started the engine. While I don't make a habit of putting random junk into the intake of an engine, any kind of foam or cotton ball would almost instantly burn up and/or blow out the exhaust. It's not going to jam anything up or cause damage.
CatalinaWOW:

--- Quote from: james_s on September 23, 2021, 09:24:56 pm ---I would have just put it back together and started the engine. While I don't make a habit of putting random junk into the intake of an engine, any kind of foam or cotton ball would almost instantly burn up and/or blow out the exhaust. It's not going to jam anything up or cause damage.

--- End quote ---

I'm not so sure of this.  I agree that foam or cotton swabs are likely to make it through the engine without damaging anything (except possibly getting caught on a valve seat and causing a leak for a while, until it wore or burned off).  But a modern car with catalytic converter has sensitive devices and mesh like screens in the exhaust path.  Odds seem high against doing major damage, but the possibility of a significant life reduction for some expensive parts seems too high to ignore.  Even vaporized foam might poison something.

I would work pretty hard at recovering the debris before I drove off.
james_s:
I suppose that could be a concern, although catalytic converters run very hot by design and I expect would incinerate just about any organic matter or plastic substance. My cars are old enough that I wouldn't worry about it, but YMMV when it comes to newer stuff.
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