I took the fuel accumulator off my 560sl to inspect and in the procees, dropped the nut down through the manifold. I fished around for 1/2 hour with a magnet, no joy. Never seen whats under the manifold on these things but there sure are a lot of crevices. Do I need to worry it'l work its way to someplace devastating?

Thanks.

J. Boggs

hello

i would be very concerned. the manifold delivers the fuel/air right to the engine's cylinders.

if you are sure that is where it went i would be taking the manifold off and looking into head area and i would be shaking the manifold hoping it would fall out.

i don't know how the rest of the guys would treat this but to me it would be defcon 4 and i would not even attempt to start the engine until i was sure it did not get to a cylinder head. even if it couldn't get by the valves if it would catch there and not let the valve close smack on a pistion is possible.

good luck!

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I would take out the battery too just to make sure someone does not try to start it without me knowing.

xp

Hi JBoggs, if the part fell BENEATH the manifold, don't sweat it. It's just lying in the valley and won't cause your engine any harm. If something was dropped INTO the manifold it would be a different story. If you have a long, flexible magnet try sticking it through the gap near the coolant by-bass hose ( at the front of the intake manifold ). This will give you access to the area beneath the manifold. Good luck

It kinda of fell through the manifold, not into or down into not like if I stuffed it into the intake or something. On my 560sl there are openings, crevices I call them, in places on the manifold that just seem to drop off into nothing. I assume, unlike on a Ford -V8 for example, that there is just nothing under the manifold and it is raised up to dissipate heat.

If I thought there were moving parts or high vacuum that could suck a bolt into the engine, I would have stopped immediately. In this case, it sort of seems harmless, but I wanted to ask.

J. Boggs

JBoggs

You might want to try using a magnetic tool with a long arm. Often sold at auto parts stores. Some have extendable arms.

I have used a tool that is magnetic on one end and holds screws on the other. Looks like a pen that fits in your pocket. I have taped a string on it and "thrown" or dangled it into one of those areas that one can see into. It seems that after several tosses it almost always gets the nut, washer or bolt.

Keep us posted,

Haasman

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