ToothPick in Engine ! ?

[Ndx]

So I did somenthing stupid i was checking for sludge with toothpick .. via oil cap and im sure small part off toothpick broke ... and it was stuck inside of engine!
I started engine. Car seems to be working normal ? what could i damage with it

?

 

[HTSS_TR]

If it is small enough then the oil filter would catch it.

 

[Ndx]

but before it will flow to the oil filter it my cause some damage

 

[BuickGN]

Nothing to worry about.

 

[Steve S]

Most likely no problem.

 

[SteveD2]

If it was a stainless-steel dental pick I'd probably worry about it.

 

[Ndx]

nope it was wood..

 

[pickled]

You wouldn't typically seize your engine with a small chunk of a toothpick in the oil gallery...now lose it in the intake and you could do some neat things to a motor. Hard plastic, on the other hand, does do quite a bit of damage to bearings when it is fragmented and introduced to the sump. I'll have to see if I still have the bearing shell that "ate" some hard plastic it definitely wasn't pretty! I don't think that lignin shows up on UOA's anyhow so you should be OK. FYI...the next time something more dubious falls into your engine take a deep breath and don't panic. Do not start the vehicle, but remove the valve cover and go fishing.

 

[RISUPERCREWMAN]

Take her out on the Highway & Floor that sucker! She will either go or Blow, & chew up that toothpick to sawdust, then the oil filter will deal with the rest!.......

 

[Gary Allan]

I would think that it would float on top of the oil in the sump. It would not be likely that it would manage to fit through the pickup screen if it made it that far... and, depending on your oil pump design, it will either be mashed to pulp and get trapped by the filter ..or stay somewhat intact and get trapped by the filter (or somewhere in between)

 

[gonesurfing]

At this point, it's probably still on top of the head, or it's made it's way into the oil pan.

 

[moribundman]

Originally Posted By: Ndx
So I did somenthing stupid i was checking for sludge with toothpick .. via oil cap and im sure small part off toothpick broke ... and it was stuck inside of engine!
I started engine. Car seems to be working normal ? what could i damage with it

?


Poke around with chopsticks and find the toothpick in the engine uppers.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: moribundman
Originally Posted By: Ndx
So I did somenthing stupid i was checking for sludge with toothpick .. via oil cap and im sure small part off toothpick broke ... and it was stuck inside of engine!
I started engine. Car seems to be working normal ? what could i damage with it

?


Poke around with chopsticks and find the toothpick in the engine uppers.

Missa Miyagi say, best defense is no be there ..but if you must, use chopsticks to get you-self out of jam.

 

[mechtech2]

It could get by the pickup screen and get into the oil pump gears. Probably no damage, and end up in the filter.

 

[TallPaul]

Seems the worst it could do is partly obstruct one of the oil drain holes for the oil to run back down to the pan, but since there should be more than one of these holes, and likely they are bigger since they are not pressurized, I doubt it would even to that. As stated above worst case it ends up trapped in filter. Now if it were winter and your filter went into bypass on startup there would be as slight chance it makes it past filter. But not to worry.

 

[meep]

It's just gonna find a spot and sit near the valves for a long, long time...

 

[JTK]

Once broken down, the cellulose will act like little scrubbing bubbles thereby rendering your engine internals SPOTLESS!! Seriously, that engine will never know it's in there.

Joel

 

[oilyriser]

I was reading some of the pages by that woman who takes photos of the Chernobyl area, and she related a story of finding a partly eaten cucumber under a valve cover, once.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
It could get by the pickup screen and get into the oil pump gears. Probably no damage, and end up in the filter.


Look on the positive side. If it gets in between the teeth on the oil pump gears, it will "pick" them clean.

 

[OVERKILL]

Johnny, you are: