Hello

We have a 2017 F150 5L V8 with 160000km.

On our first camping trip of the season, a lovely red squirrel deposited 68 pinecones under the hood.
Within days there was an error code (P2006) for the air intake manifold, and it was at that time we discovered the singed pinecones.

Intake manifolds had been on back order with no ETA, since this happened in April of this year.

We went on another (very long) trip in July/August with the error code still showing. As we were driving it would intermittently sound like we were driving over rumble strips for a second or two at a time. We determined it was the torque converter through lots of googling.

When it went in to get the air intake manifold (finally) replaced yesterday, the dealership said the torque converter needs to be replaced.

My question is: Did the torque converter fail/get damaged because of the air intake manifold malfunctioning? Or was this just an unfortunate coincidence?

Asking because we’ve been told this is a possible insurance claim due to animal damage…and given that the total bill will be around $6000 I’d love to have some “help” paying for it!


The squirrel’s handy work.

Thank you so much for your input!

Jamie