Metal shavings never make a pretty picture! Help with a diagnosis please. - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

whunter · #16 09-06-2012, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwogaman

I just had enough time this evening before dark to take some pictures of the front of the engine in the hopes of seeing something amiss.

Areas, such as around the A/C compressor and power steering pump look clear, to include in the compressor clutch.

All pulleys look and feel straight and the belt is tight.

The alternator looks okay.

It soon became evident the problem is centered in the lower main crank pulley area; specifically to the rear and right side of it. All shavings appear in that area.

It was hard getting a good shot laying on the oil stained asphault street. So I took a bunch of pictures with the hope at least one would shed some light on the problem.

You can see some scraping and waste splatter in this picture, so I knew I was getting close. Just not enough yet what was causing the problem yet.

Then this little gem showed up, but just barely. It is really too dark to tell anything as taken or when veiwed on the camera screen.

However, enlarging it on my 24" desktop screen revealed what appears to be a bolt wedged between the timing chain cover and the main crack pulley.

So, now I know what is causing the noise/shavings. The next question that I must answer is where did the bolt come from? I liberated some of GSXR’s reference pictures from his 124performance.com website for comparison with those I took to see if I could notice any critical bolts missing (e.g. water pump housing, timing mark support bracket), or if I can safely assume the bolt is an otherwise harmless stray. Hopefully it is the latter.

In any event, it does not appear that it is fatal.

Remove the stray bolt asap.

The bolt could have been random road debris caught in the balancer.

Enjoy the car.

psaboic · #17 09-06-2012, 12:11 PM

GOOD CATCH! Nice to see that listening for strange noises and investigating them paid off for you. I wish more folks (including myself from time to time) would listen closer to the noises their vehicle makes and investigate the strange ones!

Zulfiqar · #18 09-06-2012, 12:51 PM

its like one of those ghost pictures - the ghost only shows up on the camera picture - lol.

when you do get it out, read off the head of the bolt, if its kamaz or something its from your car - highly unlikely that you found a stray german bolt on an american road.

btw - this is also good reason that the noise panels be in place, my cars engine once had a blood splatter from slicing a rat on the PS pulley, once the fan has picked up a stray plastic bag on a back road.

ROLLGUY · #19 09-06-2012, 02:56 PM

I may be wrong, but in the photo showing your vacuum pump, it appears to have a giant leak. If so, do yourself a favor and replace it. It is pricey, but it is cheap insurance. The leak could be higher, like from the valve cover, but these vacuum pumps tend to leak. It is probably original.

pwogaman · #20 09-10-2012, 07:37 AM

I spent some time working on the errant bolt yesterday. Here is a better shot of it; although blurrier.

It is a 10mm, about 1.25" long with an allen head.

With a little work I got it unstuck. It was then resting over the slightly smaller gap opening between the oil pan/timing chain cover and the dampener. I used a piece of 12 ga. copper wire to fish it over to the side of the front oil pan so I could get it the rest of the way out over the oil pan bolt setting.

In the process of working it over a I inadvertently knocked it towards the middle front of the oil pan, directly under the crank. From there I lost sight of it - I mean forever! I spent the next 4 hours removing progressively more parts and fishing around for that little ****ing bolt!!! It just up and disappeared. I even started the engine again a couple of times to see if it would shake loose - no luck.

I was just barely unable to see the bottom center of the timing chain cover above the front center of the oil pan, and thus could not be assured the bolt had stuck itself up in some grease, just waiting to drop down again and wreak move damage at a most inopportune time. I got a bunch of brake cleaner and blew out the grease, but still no luck. I got out my fiber optic camera (which I don't like to get greasy), but still no luck; although, I was now able to see it was NOT there.

I have no idea where that ****ing bolt went, but at least it is not where it can repeat its prior damage. Additional pictures failed to disclose its location.

I was also, able to see that the ****ing bolt did not appear to have worked its way loose and was missing from any current setting, such as the timing mark support bracket (from which I suspect it came initially prior to being replaced).

I drove the car about a long block with any problem.

Here are a few more of the sample shots.

sixto · #21 09-10-2012, 01:01 PM

If this wasn't suggested, you can remove the pulley and damper without removing the mega-tight crank bolt. Keep track of how the damper is clocked!

Sixto
87 300D

pwogaman · #22 09-10-2012, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sixto

If this wasn't suggested, you can remove the pulley and damper without removing the mega-tight crank bolt. Keep track of how the damper is clocked!

Sixto
87 300D

I gave a cursory try at removing the pulley, but had pretty bad feelings about stripping the bolts' hex heads. The two times I tried the allen head bit started giving way - way too soon.

npretnar · #23 09-10-2012, 05:58 PM

You said you recently had a shop work on your A/C? Any chance the bolt was "lost" by an errant mechanic? If so .... hmmm ...

pwogaman · #24 09-11-2012, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by npretnar

You said you recently had a shop work on your A/C? Any chance the bolt was "lost" by an errant mechanic? If so .... hmmm ...

None. I did the A/C work myself.

engatwork · #25 09-11-2012, 08:06 AM

You don't remember losing any bolts

- just kidding.

Looks like it is about time for a front main seal. You could combine the jobs of removing the bolt and replacing the seal. Pretty straight forward job. If you are up to around 200k miles go ahead and replace the idler and tensioner pulleys while you are in there.

auspumpen · #26 09-11-2012, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwogaman

I gave a cursory try at removing the pulley, but had pretty bad feelings about stripping the bolts' hex heads. The two times I tried the allen head bit started giving way - way too soon.

I recently pulled the dampener from an Audi V6 and as quick as 1-2-3 I stripped three of the eight hex bolts. At that point I just zipped off the center crank bolt and drilled them out in my press. One technique you can try prior to that if you have the space, is to drive an XZN socket in there. That method has saved my bacon more than once on stubborn stripped CV joint hex bolts.

whunter · #27 02-06-2014, 12:46 AM

Recycled for new members