We’ve seen it in movies and cartoons, but what would happen to your car if you put a banana in the exhaust pipe?

One of the most memorable moments of the film ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ was the scene in which Alex Foley, played by Eddie Murphy, uses some bananas to thwart Sgt. Taggart and Det. Rosewood attempt to follow him. The ‘banana-in-the-tailpipe’ prank became a legendary gag from thereon out.

However, the prank can trace its origins further back than the hit 1984 action-comedy movie. Exactly, when it started and where it came from is unknown, but it appeared in a 1971 episode of the TV detective series Columbo, according to Reader’s Digest. However, the on-screen detective used a potato instead of a banana.

The magazine set out to get expert opinions on whether the prank was really as effective as it has been portrayed in cartoons and movies. Here’s what they found out.

What really happens when you put a banana in a tailpipe

The idea behind the banana-in-the-tailpipe prank is that by blocking the car’s exhaust from escaping that you will impede the proper functioning of combustion in the engine by suffocating it, causing the engine to stall.

However, whether you use a banana or a potato, or any other food object, to block the exhaust pipe of a car, you are unlikely to get the same result as Detective Foley in the movie, or any other iteration of the prank shown in pop culture.

A more likely scenario is that whatever is jammed up the tailpipe will come flying out when the engine is revved due to force of the gases being produced.

“If you placed a banana in a tailpipe, the worst that would happen is it would blow out on a sidewalk,” explained Chris Pyle, a certified mechanic and an auto expert with JustAnswer, to Reader’s Digest, quipping, “and someone may slip on it.”

And you don’t just have to take his word for it. That was pretty much the result that occurred on a 2004 episode of the TV show MythBusters with everything they stuffed up a car’s exhaust pipe, including a banana.

You can also find videos across social media of people getting a good laugh out of attempting the prank themselves.

If the object isn’t ejected by the pressure that builds up, at best the engine will run a little bit worse, not being able to produce as much power as normal. Pyle explained that this is because a lot of exhaust systems have leaks in them.

“So a car can get the exhaust out to some degree through condensation weep holes and bad gaskets,” he said. “The car will run, but it will have less power. It will bog down.”

Is the banana-in-the-tailpipe joke harmful to a car?

Unlike spiking someone’s gasoline with sugar, shoving a banana, or potato, into a car’s exhaust pipe shouldn’t cause real damage to the car Pyle said. However, “blocking an exhaust is not a good idea, and any restriction can cause engine damage over time,” warned Tim Rodifer, a mechanic and former owner of Mr. Transmission – Milex Complete Auto Care.

Additionally, if there are underlying problems in your exhaust system, portions of it could fail and “you would then have an exhaust leak to address,” Pyle cautioned.

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