PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Hey lets play "Where did this ball bearing come from?"

t walgamuth · #13 12-06-2008, 05:37 AM

Its an interesting question. Its big enough it is questionable whether it could fit past the intake valve.

I once ruined a perfectly good freshly rebuilt cadillac motor by dropping a stud down into the intake. I had often used the trick of dropping a screwdriver into the spark plug hole and turning the engine by hand to determine tdc to time the dist.

So one day when I was trying to work on the car when I was in a mental state where I probably should have done something else (one of my favorite uncles had just died and I think I was more affected by it than I realized. I needed to locate tdc and no screwdriver was handy so I used about a four inch stud.

It was just long enough so that later when I decided I needed to crank the car with the starter it dropped into the cylinder and when it cranked over it simply punched a hole in the piston. Dumbly not realizing what had happened I went ahead and started the motor and when it had a dead miss on one cylinder I shut it off... but the debris from the piston by then had been picked up and wiped on all the bearings.

So I had to pull it and have it redone all over again.....Ouch!

I am not sure if its the most expensive automotive mistake I ever made but its for sure in the top three or so.