Engine destroyed by an 8mm nut!

[dowahdiddyman]

Perhaps title should read `engine destroyed by idiot let loose with spanner`.

[redstu]

I dropped a small nut into the engine when I had the cam cover off. Can't remember which car now , but I dropped the oil out and was lucky enough to be able to retrieve the nut through the sump plug hole.

[thinfourth2]

I can see it killing and engine if it got into the oil pump driver

Asides from that not much chance of a nut in the sump killing an engine

[littleredrooster]

I've built (and destroyed!) loads of engines over the years and can say with certainty that an M5 nut loose in the sump would not have caused that.

[Perd Hapley]

The best I can come up with is the nut blocking the oil pump pickup somehow.

[fangio]

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&cp=16&amp...

Can't see a nut getting past or blocking one of these and the crankshaft doesn't touch the oil to 'pick it up'...

[williamp]

Rich_W said:

williamp] said:

oil pressure is surprisingly high in engines- it doesnt just slosh about in the bottom of the sump. It can easily be 3 bar (about 40psi) which migt be enough to whip the nut up and into a gap between bearing and crank.

Can you please leave the technical talk to the grown ups please.

Edited by Rich_W on Saturday 26th November 10:46

Yes I know what you mean! Between that bit and the other bit when you look up underneath the engine with the sump removed... Thats what I mean

[750turbo]

I think we have proven that the only nut here was the OP?

[NonSyncro]

williamp said:

Rich_W said:

williamp] said:

oil pressure is surprisingly high in engines- it doesnt just slosh about in the bottom of the sump. It can easily be 3 bar (about 40psi) which migt be enough to whip the nut up and into a gap between bearing and crank.

Can you please leave the technical talk to the grown ups please.

Edited by Rich_W on Saturday 26th November 10:46

Yes I know what you mean! Between that bit and the other bit when you look up underneath the engine with the sump removed... Thats what I mean

Thanks for the accurate description.

I certainly have no idea what you mean. Most engines have a considerable gap between the oil in the pan and the crank. Even if the oil had been overfilled and come into contact with the crank, the "surprisingly high oil pressure" would exist in the oil pick up tube (covered by a mesh). Oil in a wet sump should not be under pressure.
I'm almost certain that this engine hasn't been destroyed by an 8mm nut, which would quite happily sit at the bottom of a sump for years.

[NiceCupOfTea]

O/P gone a bit quiet

[eliot]

williamp said:

oil pressure is surprisingly high in engines- it doesnt just slosh about in the bottom of the sump. It can easily be 3 bar (about 40psi) which migt be enough to whip the nut up and into a gap between bearing and crank.

As others have saiud, to start and engine knowing there is a foreign body in the oil can oply lead one way, I'm afriad

Are you refering to the oil pressure or crankcase pressure?

[Perd Hapley]

fangio said:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&cp=16&amp...

Can't see a nut getting past or blocking one of these and the crankshaft doesn't touch the oil to 'pick it up'...

Aye, I was thinking of the older type which were just a narrow pipe. No nut's blocking the modern type.

[SV8Predator]

Nick3point2 said:

I assume the OP referred to the AF size of the nut saying it's 8mm.

There's always one, isn't there?

[retroracing]

NiceCupOfTea said:

O/P gone a bit quiet

well at least he didnt put up a load of pics of his rather distinctive prelude, so we all know who he is when he finally mends his engine and gets back pn the road............ oh hang on ...

[sc001]

First, I'd like to thank everybody for taking the time to F*****G PISS-TAKE!!

When I took the sump off (after grinding to a halt on the road), the oil was full of metal filings, too much to have been the remnants of the rogue nut. The top is also full of bits of metal aswell, so that is why I'm playing it safe & getting a new engine.

The moral of the story is: If you drop anything into your engine, get it out strait away!

Edited by sc001 on Sunday 27th November 19:05

[krisdelta]

Sorry to hear about this O/P - hopefully the rebuild wont be too costly.

[thinfourth2]

sc001 said:

First, I'd like to thank everybody for taking the time to F*****G PISS-TAKE!!

When I took the sump off (after grinding to a halt on the road), the oil was full of metal fillings, too much to have been the remnants of the rogue nut. The top is also full of bits of metal aswell, so that is why I'm playing it safe & getting a new engine.

The moral of the story is: If you drop anything into your engine, get it out strait away!

Total and utter 100% misinformed rubbish

The nut would not of caused the engine to stop working

But what the fk do i know i've only been working with engines for the past 18 years

So the 8mm nut went through the 4mm holes in the strainer and then destroyed the oil pump

[busta]

I love technical threads in general gassing. People are so quick to show how little mechanical knowledge they actually have!

[wackojacko]

This is a facepalm thread ....

[littleredrooster]

sc001 said:

the oil was full of metal fillings...

Fillings, eh? And I thought they were only for teeth.