... has bent a connecting rod caused by hydro-locking the engine?

What are the symptoms which lead you to believe that you possibly have a bent rod?

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Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 523K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Wow, if you bent a rod, you should know about it by now..What happened??

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Jeff Lawrence
1987 300e
1989 300e
2000 Dodge Grand Caravan SE

How would you know if a rod was bent? I know if it was bent enough it would be contacting something i.e. cylinder wall. But I've been told that even a slight bit can cause stress on rod and eventually will let go causing a disaster. I was working on fuel system and a lot of fuel dumped into one of the cylinders. When I went to turn the motor over the starter seemed like there was some force against it not allowing it to turn over. That is why I am thinking the rod may have bent slighly.

Steve,

Liquid in the cylinder can indeed bend a rod, and who knows what other damage may be caused. But this is typically when liquid is in the cylinder and the other cylinders fire, and then it may even take revving up the engine to get enough energy to cause major damage. If it was ONLY the starter which hit this liquid, and the engine didn't fire, you probably did not sustain any damage.

You are correct in concern over connecting rods. The rod is by far the most stressed piece of the engine.

Is everything running okay now?

Good luck,

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Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 523K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Haven't really driven it. To scared something may be wrong. I have read (on the internet) that even the starter can possibly bend rod.

Steve

Hi Steve-
Listen to what Larry Bible just told you. Or go to a garage somewhere and ask the guys to let you see what a connecting rod looks like. They're strong.
You just took a bigger chance on blowing yourself up with loose fuel flying all over the place than you did of bending a connecting rod.
So take it easy, enjoy your car, keep on learning stuff about it.
Harvey

When the gas engines bend a rod, you can usually see it in a compression test. One easy way is to do a relative compression test.
This is done by disabling the ignition system and cranking the engine over. Listen closely. If all cycles sound the same, you should be fine.

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Benzmac:
Donnie Drummonds
1991 GMC Syclone
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
SERVICE MANAGER FOR 14 BAY FACILITY
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 8 YRS
PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM

The compression will be lower even if it is only a slight bend?

I think Donnie means listen to the engine while it's cranking. If it doesn't waver or sound different at any time it's probably OK. This test is done with the plugs in place, just pull the center wire from the coil.

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Jeff Lawrence
1987 300e
1989 300e
2000 Dodge Grand Caravan SE