Alans wee bro here My Astra 1.6 16v SXI 51plate has ramair induction kit and custom enclosed heatshield but recently the weld on the heatshield broke and it wasnt held by the bracket only the cold air feed silicone hose and the fact the ind kit fits inside the shield and the ind kit is held on by the air intake assembly (the pipe it bolts to) checked about 2-3 weeks ago and all was fine opened the bonnet the other night and it had collapsed at some point and the ind kit was inside the heat shield down near the front bumper and ive been sucking all that dirty air in for ages now but i know it could be up to 3-500 miles fixed it now and all seems fine engine sounds ok and feels to have the power it should also revs and starts fine but im sure the exhaust now has a RASPY sound sometimes but not all the times only mibbey 4000 rpm then disappears in all gears could this be some sort of damage its picking up on and changeing the note of the exhaust.
Now do yous think the dirt will damage the engine beyond repair or will it not get past the throttle body and injectors ive been driving the car normal and drive the car hard alot of the time high revs and redline so wen the filter was off you could say its been ragged a wee bit.
Any info on this would be much appreciated