I just got a '00 Cherokee Sport about a month ago. I finally got around to buying an air filter today, and when I went to replace it I saw this in the box that holds the air filter.




This pink insulation shouldn't be there, right? Am I crazy? I did see an acorn shell inside, so maybe there were rodents living inside? But could they really bring all that insulation in? Could it have been put there by a previous owner? I have been getting pretty terribly mileage (12 city, 15 highway), so maybe this is the culprit?

Any advice would be appreciated. Should I leave this crap in there?

 

no that pink insulation shouldnt be in the air box, or anywhere around a jeep. Ill find little acorns and dirty in the bottom of the air box from time to time. no worries thats what the filter is for.

 

Rodents probly put it there and made a nest if the jeep had been sitting for a while, you should do a complete tune up, it would most likely help your gas milage

 

If a rodent was in there you would see little mouse poops, that didn't.get sucked in by accident, po put it there or some critter made a.home in there

 

You can put a screen over the air intake to prevent them little furry bastards from getting in there.

 

Ok that's what I figured...gross.

 

Rats, they get into my ATV air box!

 

Great idea Dan, I'll do that to my quad next time I'm up in Oregon. I check every time now.

 

Ever heard of the saying don't s@1$ where you sleep? Lol.Defiantly a squirrel or field mice.

 

Critters and PO's.....tough on XJs.....what color's the coolant? LOL

 

Changed the coolant a few weeks ago, it was looking pretty dingy. I just changed the plugs and the NGK's I pulled out had gaps that ranged from .07 to .09...not sure if that was human error or the engine did something funky to them

 

Sounds like you're doing what the PO didn't.....excellent.

 

LOL!!!!! LMAO everytime I see this.

Yes critters, mice, chipmonks, etc use the air filter box for storage and living quarters more than you think. Working part time in an auto shop, I find many air filter boxes filled with nests from these little critters. I have pulled hand fulls of maple seeds, accorns, etc from all types of vehicles. Anybody who lives near farms, wooded housing tracks will encounter this problem. I was camping last year and was feeding a little chipmonk peanuts for @4 days. He would take the peanuts and head into his hole and also rumage around by XJ during the day. When I returned home, later was working on the radiator (over heated), pulled the air filter and that little SOB was storing the peanuts in my airfilter box while we were camping.

 

LMAO!! Maybe the chipmunk's way of telling you he don't like peanuts lol. Ill have to dig out the pic's of what I found in my car one day. Did you know that woodchucks enjoy to feast on wiring?

 

One time I was pumping gas and I found a mouse stuck in my wheel.
Guess the little guy made a home and got spun to death lol