Rat in the pipe

Thirty-five years as a mechanic were not enough to prepare Paeroa man Philip Berry for what he discovered when he took a look at a customer's misfiring car engine.

Paeroa woman Viv Gerrand took her 1991 Toyota Corolla into B&M Services because the car was not firing on all cylinders after a long road trip.

Under the bonnet, Berry discovered something he had never seen before – a dead and flat rat lodged inside the motor.

Berry said it appeared the unlucky rodent had been in the car's air cleaner before gnawing its way out. While the engine was going it was sucked back feet and tail first into the motor, where it was likely killed by hot oil, high air pressure and shock.

"What a horrifying death," Berry said. "He really went out of jail (in the air cleaner) right back into jail."

Berry said in all his years working on engines he had never seen anything like it.

Despite its ordeal, the rat appeared to be well preserved in oil. Berry thought no major damage had been done to the car's engine.