Engine destroyed by an 8mm nut!

[BonzoG]

I lost the hard plastic tip of an oil extractor pump down the dipstick of my MX-5 last year. Drained the oil the proper way and fished a chunk of it out, but I'm sure half of it is still floating around in there.

Either that, or it's been mashed up by the crank (unlikely I guess, how much exposure does the crank even have to oil in the sump?) or melted and stuck in a filter somewhere. Regardless, my engine hasn't mysteriously blown up in the 25-30k of hard abuse since...

[rossw46]

wackojacko said:

This is a facepalm thread ....

Perhaps even a double!

I predict...many many pages to follow.

[Special K]

OP, you're a spactard !

[IrrElephant]

Dropping a piece of gravel into the intake side of s turbo can cause your car to stop working BTW.





Just for info.

[sc001]

thinfourth2 said:

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

No, the oil pump is still working!

As for the nut not causing the engine to stop working...Well I must have just imagened my engine seizing up & stopping, I must have imagened towing it back aswell.

thinfourth2, with 18 years of experiance do you not have anything constructive to say?

[thinfourth2]

sc001 said:

No, the oil pump is still working!

As for the nut not causing the engine to stop working...Well I must have just imagened my engine seizing up & stopping, I must have imagened towing it back swell.

So how did the white metal get removed from the bearing shell you posted?

The oil cools and lubricated and the picture you posted is pretty much typical oil starvation.

But your the expert so you tell me how the 8mm nut got into the gap between the shell and the crank which is near 0.1mm

If not that how did the nut stop the engine from working?

sc001 said:

thinfourth2, with 18 years of experiance do you not have anything constructive to say?

Yes a 8mm nut won't cause the shells to wipe

[Yuxi]

This reminds me of when I put a scrapyard carb on an old mk2 cavalier years ago. It took about half an hour to change the carb, then I drove it about 10 miles, giving it a thrashing to make sure it worked OK. On arriving home I turned the engine off then went to start it again and the engine would not turnover. I found on turning the engine over with a spanner that it would reach a certain point and turn no further. I took the head off and found an M8 nut sitting on top of one the pistons, it hit the head as the piston approached TDC and stopped the engine. Nothing was damaged, the nut must have fallen out of the carb as I turned the engine off. That was my lucky day!

An 8mm nut, whatever that is, in the oilpan of an engine will not cause oil starvation, unless as already said it somehow breaks the oil pump drive.

[ShampooEfficient]

sc001 said:

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

>points at PH banner<

...

[sc001]

I am not an expert. But its pritty apparent to me what happened.

The bearing shells where coated with metal filings (as is everything) the nut was chewed up by one of the counterweights (opposite the one circled in the picture) just below the dipstick.



I ran the car for a few weeks after droping the nut inside, I though it would be fine & just get stuck in the grille on the oil pickup. its just bad luck that it found its way to where it did.

Edited by sc001 on Sunday 27th November 19:05

[sc001]

ShampooEfficient said:

>points at PH banner<

...

EH?

[Magic919]

sc001 said:

ShampooEfficient said:

>points at PH banner<

...

EH?

Says it all.

[anonymous-user]

sc001 said:

I ran the car for a few weeks after droping the nut inside, I though it would be fine & just get stuck in the grille on the oil pickup. its just bad luck that it found its way to where it did.

Its not bad luck, you ran the car knowing there was a loose nut inside the engine?!

[Classic Grad 98]

I just can't see that happening. Something else has caused your engine to fail. What work were you doing on the car when you dropped the nut down the dipstick?

[RWD cossie wil]

I think this picture sums the OP up pretty well, but I can't think where the extra N needs to go?

[R300will]

If you dropped it down the dipstick hole couldn't you just take the sump off to find it? or is that a really naive thing to say?

[wackojacko]

RWD cossie wil said:

I think this picture sums the OP up pretty well, but I can't think where the extra N needs to go?

Ouch ...

[anonymous-user]

RWD cossie wil said:

I think this picture sums the OP up pretty well, but I can't think where the extra N needs to go?

Harsh but......

[Yuxi]

sc001 said:

I am not an expert. But its pritty apparent to me what happened.

Edited by sc001 on Sunday 27th November 19:05

Please explain what you think happened

[thinfourth2]

sc001 said:

I am not an expert.

But some of us have more experience

sc001 said:

The bearing shells where coated with metal fillings (as is everything) .

When your oil supply fails then the white metal which is close to tin which is a non magnetic melts and you get steel on steel in side the bearings. This results in the crank being worn so it no longer looks shiny but dull and a bit blue. You end up with metal fillings in the bottom of the sump. The white metal melting results in those little blooby bits you are also seeing in the sump/

sc001 said:

the nut was chewed up by one of the counterweights (opposite the one circled in the picture) just below the dipstick.



I ran the car for a few weeks after droping the nut inside, I though it would be fine & just get stuck in the grille on the oil pickup. its just bad luck that it found its way to where it did.

If it did get chewed up then you see witness marks on the crank and the oil rail.

If the nut was chewed up i would expect most of it would be caught by the oil filter before it gets to the bearings to do any damage

[littleredrooster]

sc001 said:

I am not an expert. But its pritty apparent to me what happened.

The bearing shells where coated with metal filings (as is everything) the nut was chewed up by one of the counterweights (opposite the one circled in the picture) just below the dipstick.

So, pray tell how, after many weeks (or miles), a nut can leap 6 or 8 inches upwards through a viscous liquid and land (miraculously) between the rod and counterweight?