There’s a popular theory that exists with ping pong balls and their effects on an engine. Thus, whatever your purpose is, you may wonder what would happen if you put a ping pong ball in a gas tank. Would this ball do something to your engine? So, you may ask:
If you put a ping pong ball in a gas tank, what really happens? If someone manages to put ping pong balls in a gas tank, it won’t cause any issue or significant damage to your car. Instead, it may clog the fuel lines that can lead to stalling. However, that’s all there is to it. The only problem would be removing it since you also need to take out the entire tank.
A ping pong ball may seem like a dangerous thing to be floating in your gas tank. However, in reality, it won’t cause any significant damage. Needless to say, you’ll need to take it out as soon as possible, and it’s the challenging one since you’ll need to remove the whole tank as well.
In this article, you’ll see a walk-through on how a ping poll ball can affect an engine if put in a gas tank. This way, you’ll understand what risks it brings as well as how you can deal with it if it ever occurs to you and to your vehicle.
Without further ado, let’s get into it!
Table of Contents
What happens when you put a ping pong ball in the gas tank?
If you put a ping pong ball in the gas tank, you can get some issues with the engine, such as stalling and starting issues.
In general, it’s pretty impossible to put a ping pong ball in the gas tank in modern car models. The reason is that the modern models have electric pumps with a filter. Such a filter can block the ping pong ball from entering the gas tank.
It may be possible for older model cars with the mechanical fuel pump. Back then, the filler necks are more prominent, making it enough for a ping pong ball to pass through it.
Some claims state that a ping pong ball can cause stalling in a car, especially when the fuel is low at around ¼ of the tank.
The claim said that the ping pong ball would be enough to clog the engine, leading it to stall. Once the engine stops running, it will release the ball due to the loss of power. Then, once it starts again, the ping pong ball would go again and clog it.
However, while the claim seems to be theoretically valid, it’s not a proven one. Further, no one has ever heard of it as accurate.
In other words, unless you’re driving a Ford, throwing a ping pong ball in the tank won’t cause it to stall.
Short term effects
Since the ping pong ball won’t likely get into the engine, it won’t cause any issue or short-term effects on your engine.
However, it’s still not a great thing to have a ping pong ball floating in your gas tank. Thus, you still need to take it out as soon as possible.
Long term effects
One of the possible long-term effects would be when the ping pong ball starts to melt. Although it’s not likely to happen, it may still melt since it’s made of plastic.
The ball can cause clogging, contaminating the fuel, leading to poor combustion and performance.
Still, it’s not something you need to worry about, as it won’t do any significant damage to the engine.
The only thing you need to worry about is when taking it out. While it may not cause that much damage, it’s not a good thing to left it floating inside.
Can a ping pong ball in a gas tank damage an engine?
No, a ping pong ball in a gas tank cannot damage an engine. The ball may cause stalling, but it won’t do any damage.
Still, as mentioned earlier, it can be challenging to take it out as you need to remove the whole tank, which is obviously quite a ton of work.
As I mentioned earlier, putting a ping pong ball in a gas tank may be possible for older model cars with a mechanical fuel pump. Back then, the filler necks are more prominent, making it enough for a ping pong ball to pass through it.
Some claims state that a ping pong ball can cause stalling in a car, especially when the fuel is low at around ¼ of the tank.
The claim said that the ping pong ball would be enough to clog the engine, leading it to stall. Once the engine stops running, it will release the ball due to the loss of power. Then, once it starts again, the ping pong ball would go again and clog it.
However, while the claim seems to be theoretically valid, it’s not a proven one. Moreover, no one has ever heard of it as accurate.
The majority of this material either clogs the gasoline filter before it reaches the engine or damages the fuel pump, generally located in the tank.
It’s not terrible for the engine per se, but removing the gasoline tank and lines to clear it out is a bit of a nuisance.
How much ping pong ball in a gas tank will ruin it?
Even if you put several ping pong balls in a gas tank, these balls won’t do significant damage to the engine. Still, you’ll need to take all of it out.
It’s something that can be a nuisance since you’ll need to have the whole tank removed. As a general rule of thumb, you should secure your gas tank so you can avoid such incidents from happening.
Can you tell if someone put a ping pong ball in your gas tank?
In general, you won’t notice if there’s a ping pong ball in your gas tank unless it starts causing problems to the engine.
For this reason, you can’t tell if someone put one or more balls in your gas tank. For this reason, it would be best not to park your vehicle somewhere where anyone can access it.
As mentioned earlier, a ping pong ball won’t do any significant harm to your engine. However, it’s a real pain to take it out as you will need to remove the whole tank as well.
How to get the ping pong ball out of a gas tank?
The best way to get the ping pong ball out of a gas tank is by draining all the fuel and thoroughly cleaning the gas chamber.
It won’t be enough to rely on the fuel filter as the ping pong ball is too large for it.
If someone purposely puts one or several ping pong balls in it, =you should seek the help of an expert to get rid of the balls in your gas tank. They would likely remove the tank and take out the balls.
Summary
In a nutshell, ping pong balls aren’t ideal to remain in a gas tank. If ping pong balls are accidentally placed in a gas tank, it will not create any problems or serious harm to your vehicle. It may clog the gasoline lines, causing the vehicle to stall. That is, however, all there is to it. The only issue would be removing it because you’d have to remove the complete tank as well.
A ping pong ball drifting inside your gas tank may appear to be a hazardous object. However, it will not have a big impact in reality. Needless to say, you’ll need to remove it as quickly as possible, and it’ll be the most difficult because you’ll also have to remove the entire tank.
As always, take it as a rule of thumb to secure your vehicle so no one can pull such feats on you and cause issues like these ones.
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