Dropping dirt/oil into oil pan during work

[John5788]

how bad is it that some dirt/oil from the front of the engine area drops into the oil pan while the timing case cover is off for timing chain rail replacement? i think i knocked some dirt/oil from the ac compressor in and I cleaned up whatever I can see, but am I at a huge risk of breaking my motor by leaving stuff in there?

[lsmalley]

why don't you just buy a gallon or so of the less expensive oil, i think its pennzoil (which is ok to use in MBZ) and take out the oil plug and just flush ur engine with it? I did the same thing, i wasn't changing my timing chain, but some dirt got (actually debris from my deteriorating hood pad) fell into the crankcase and i just took out the drain plug and flushed the engine....I did remove the valve cover after though to make sure i flushed/rinsed out all the mechanicals underneath.

[John5788]

flush by running the oil through a running motor? or just pour it around and watch it drain out the plug?

i did buy some cheap castrol gtx 20w-50 (i normally use mobil 10w-40) and a fram filter to run through my car for the first 500 miles or so and then change out for mobil 1 and k&n after the job is complete.

[lsmalley]

I would pour without running the motor first so the dirt doesn't mess anything up

[400Eric]

The oil pump "sees" the oil before the filter does so yes, you must try to flush that dirt out cause it will cause some harm to that pump.
Regards, Eric

You called it dirt, but in reality what was it? Was it gasket material? Was it grime from the surrounding areas?

The oil pump is quite robust and the filter will catch whatever makes it through.

If you are really particular, drain the oil out of the pan and then rapidly pour a gallon of diesel fuel through the front if the timing cover is still off while the drain plug is out and a catch pan underneath. This will flush out most any loose material and the slight amount of diesel residue won't hurt anything.

[John5788]

it is dirt/oil mixture from just around the front of the engine bay, not gasket material. grime i suppose?

Is the timing cover still off or is the engine back together?

[John5788]

timing cover is still off, this is an m103. i am awaiting a new swag chain tensioner rail.

[silversleeves]

I am interested in this job, would you
consider posting you procedure?

[John5788]

I did like 2 jobs at once, both timing rail and head gasket.

maybe I'll get around to posting all of that, but you can PM me any questions if you are curious

Since it's still apart, with the oil pan drain plug removed and a drain pan underneath, simply rapidly pour about a gallon of diesel fuel through the timing cover opening. This will wash out the junk. Even if you put in the drain plug immediaterly after this flushing, there will not be enough diesel fuel residue to cause any trouble with a fresh filter and load of oil.

Good luck

[John5788]

just curious, why diesel fuel? can i just dump quarts of some cheap 10w-30 i have laying around?