I was changing oil on my mercedes e300 diesel 1996 when a 6mmx29mm bolt came out of the drain plug hole.Where did this bolt come from?

Yikes.

I took a look through the EPC net schematics....and it does not say the size of the bolts, but, the oil pump assembly has the most small bolts that I can see....hopefully some others here have a better idea what it is. Has the engine ever been opened up for service in any way? That would narrow down if it might have been dropped in by accident, or if it came off something important inside the motor....

__________________
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I dont know if the engine has been opened , Some bolts on the top of the engine looks like they have been removed

you sure it wasn't in the oil collecting pan when you drained oil. did you actually see it come out. In any case, not worth being worried about something you can't do anything about. I assume car is running find without it.

Can EPC shed some light on this?

I know Citroen parts manuals and earlier Benz parts catalogs included the dimensions of every fastener in their descriptions, do you have this kind of catalog for your E-Class? If so, it might help, if not, maybe the dealer parts guy can tell you.

__________________
Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
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1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

EPC doesn't break it down to the size of the bolt....but the FSM for the 606 probably does....

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

You saw it come out?

__________________
1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

I pulled the bolt out of the oil drain hole.

does your engine have the front three head bolts normally marked as 'a' in the head tightening diagrams .i assume this is similar to the size you have recovered. easy to check
mak

6X29 is a pretty skinny bolt, a little bit longish.

Should be easy when understanding design of engine.

It's not coming past pistons.

Are there sheet metal baffles anywhere?

Could it have migrated down timing chain cavity?

It's probably something to do with oil pump.

I rather think it's not important whether EPC lists sizes, as there are very few applications for bolts this small.

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Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb.asp

I found this website that has diagrams of the oil pump assembly and the bolt sizes. Actually the bolt is 6x30 after I remeasured it . It's looking like one of the oil pump combination bolts. It has a washer made on it. Does anybody know how much trouble it is to remove the oil pan? Thanks for the replies.

Not a diesel guy, but I've seen bolts that size used for securing valve train parts on gas engines in other makes. In fact, I dropped one down an oil return hole in the head once - thank god for extendable magenetic pick-ups!

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A.S.E Tech A1,A6,A7,A8 & MVAC 609 + EPA 608

Unless stated otherwise, any question I ask is about my greymarket 1985 380SEL.

I removed the oil level switch and the oil cooler from the sides of the oil pan and replaced the bolt. Thank for the reply