Dropped Something in Oil Crankcase
 

I was adding oil today from one of those 1 gallon oil containers for my 420 SEL and 1/2 of the little "tin foily" thing on the top of the container that normlly seals it (I broke the seal with my thumb so I could pour the oil) and it fell into the crankcase when I was pouring it.

Will this circulate around the crankcase and finally wind up in the oil filter and will be removed during the next oil change or do I need to worry about it clogging somehow?

The size of it is about 1/2 the size of the thing that would normally seal a gallon of milk.

Please reply as I am concerned.

I would not loose sleep over this.
It will probably fall down to the oil pan with the oil flow. It will not go through the oil pump/filter as there is a screen on the oil pump pick-up.
You will probably see it again at your next oil change going through the oil plug.
jackD

I don't know if it is a coincidence or not, but today after a mile of driving, all of the dashboard lights went on, but the car drives fine.

what does it mean when all of the lights go one?

Someone told me this could mean that the alternator is bad and am just running off the battery.

and how long should an alternator last. i think i had my replaced 2 years ago.

Mattsuzie: That little "tin foily" thing COULD be a problem. About 4 years ago, on my wife's Jetta Diesel - one of the "tin foily" seals from a litre of oil accidentally fell into the engine while adding oil. For 2 weeks nothing happened. Then my wife called me at work and told me that every time she stepped on the gas and the revs hit about 1800 RPM the low oil pressure light started blinking and the buzzer sounded mercilessly. Taking her foot of the gas - the light would go away and the buzzer would stop. I thought it was strange as low oil pressure usually occurs at low RPM not high. I told her to shut the car off and drove to where she was. When I started the car - it was exactly like she said. It did not make sense - revving the engine produced lower oil pressure - lower revs produced higher oil pressure. I towed the car home and pulled the oil pan - that stupid round "tin foily" thing had made it into the oil sump and had gotten sucked up against the screen for the pick up to the oil pump - effectively plugging about half the intake of the screen. So at low RPM there was sufficient oil to give the required pressure but as you revved the engine the reduced oil flow caused reduced oil pressure by oil starvation- setting off the alarms. Removing the stupid "tin foily" thing and a new oil pan gasket and the car is still rinning great to this day. Needless to say I am very careful with those "tin foily" things now. I would strongly suggest that you keep an eye on your oil pressure if you leave it in there - may not happen today or tomorrow - BUT BEWARE!!!!:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
Morris

I would go in after it knowing that the oil pickup tube is not the smallest, and the screen there will stop it, but it wont shread it so that it ends up in the filter like it should.

Drain the oil, see if it flows out, if not, the oil pan will have to come off to get it out, probably.

xp

If happens to come out with the oil great. Is there a chance that it could ever wind up in the oil filter housing as well in case it is not found during the oil change or when the oil pan is dropped?

I think so, but a little confused from prior postings.

"Is there a chance that it could ever wind up in the oil filter housing as well in case it is not found during the oil change or when the oil pan is dropped?"

No, the screen on the intake will stop it.

A piece of foil that size may even stay up in the top of the engine. With the fill at the front and the drain at the rear with all the valve springs and rockers in between, it may get hung up there. If it doesn't come out in the draining of the oil, my next look would be to pull the right side valve cover. So much easier to put on than the oil pan, it may be worth a look. Good luck.

If you are going to try and remove it by draining the oil - make a little hook out of a coat hanger and try to fish it out through the drain hole while the oil is draining just in case it is too large to get out the hole on it's own. Just a thought.

mattsuzie, it would be best to locate the foil seal ASAP before it starts to get ground up into pieces and possibly causes some extensive damage. First I'd pull the valve cover and check for the foil seal. If it's not there then drain the oil with the hope that it flows out. As a last resort drop the oil pan. Then file this in the "Lessons Learned" category.

Thanks a bunch.

In the meantime, the culprit of all my warning light going on was a bad belt.

By the way, what is the likelihood that it is stuck in the valve cover. Although it is a good idea to do so , would not gravity pull it downward. Don't know as I cannot picture the internals of the engine.

By the way, never drained the oil in my 420, just my 300. Is the drain plug large enough for something to fall through.

I know my drain plug on my 68 Olds is huge, but the one the 300 is tiny.

Hi mattsuzie,
here is a picture of the 420 drain plug. If memory serves me right, it is a 13 or 14 mm plug.
I doubt it will come through that drain as Murphy's law just won't let it happen. To take the oil pan off is not too difficult, there are only 2 bolts that go through the pan that have nuts on top as they hold some tubing from the transmission going to the cooler. Driverside. You need to take those 2 nuts off first, otherwise the bolt might brake off. I know from experience.
The hard part is to not overtighten the bolts upon installation. You need a new gasket (about $16?) and a torque wrench in inch pounds rather than footpounds. It needs only 8 ftlbs and my torquewrench was not sensitive enough. You can see the split gasket in the picture. The pan holes will get bent and you have a leak as a result of overtightening.
You will need 8 liters of oil.
Good luck
Reinhard Kreutzer

This shows the oil pickup filter in the pan, that the foil might clog with the resultant oil pressure drop as moedip explained.

Gravity--possible, but it would have to get past the 8 valve springs and rocker arms first. Oil pan isn't bad to remove, but the 4 bolts n the valve cover are easy and the gasket can be reused. I'd look there before even draining the oil. Not that draining (and changing) the oil is a bad thing.