Shard of Metal in Sump

[david.g.chapman]

Hi everybody!

Due to mildly embarrassing reasons there is one tooth of the distributer gear sitting in the sump of my +2. It's a piece (or pieces) of metal totaling about 1.5 x 1.5 x 10mm.

I was about to start a 500 mile tour of England in the car in a week's time, and I don't fancy dropping the sump in that time, so....

1. Do I soldier on and fit a magnetic sump plug?
2. Use my daily driver for the trip.

I can't visualise what happens to pieces of metal that size in the sump under running conditions. Too big to go through the oil pump strainer but possibly getting matey with the timing chain? or just sitting quietly on the bottom of the sump?

Dave Chapman.

[promotor]

You could try dropping the oil (warm) and see if it comes out. If it doesn't, you could try a strong magnet on the outside of the sump and see if you can move it to where you can get your fingers on it.

Be aware of the baffle (runs front to back in later sumps, and side to side in earlier sumps) as this will dictate which way you can move the offending article!

A little key-hole camera might work wonders to help you see inside the sump if struggling?

[2cams70]

The broken tooth will remain at the bottom of the pan and the gauze screen on the oil pickup will prevent it from being sucked up into the oil pump. Of greater concern is the condition of the jackshaft drive gear. If a tooth broke off from the distributor gear the jackshaft drive gear could well be damaged also. The jackshaft gear also drives the critically important oil pump

[david.g.chapman]

Yes 2cams70, that was my concern.
I can get my finger down the distributor hole to feel the gear as I turn the engine and it seems to be all there. I have started the engine on a spare distributor and it runs without any noise from the jackshaft. A minor miracle!
A chunk of several teeth was sheared off in the incident, and I managed to fish it out of the distributor hole, but there was one tooth missing when I matched up the two pieces. So it must be in the sump....
So will a really strong magnet work through the sump wall?
Dave Chapman

[512BB]

Embarassment aside David, how did the drive gear lose its teeth? Might prevent the same from happening to others.

Leslie

[ericbushby]

Hi Dave,
I don`t think a piece of steel will move much in the bottom of the sump and in a viscous liquid like oil. I do not think you need to worry about that. I don`t think a magnet will work through sheet steel.
If it was caused by an embarrassing incident then of course we do not need to know. I would expect the distributor to be repairable so there may be no permanent damage.
However if you felt like starting a thread on accidents and mistakes, both costly and `got away with it` ones, you may find you are not alone.
I could certainly contribute.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

[david.g.chapman]

Thanks so much for your replies.

Just for a bit of fun I've ordered 4 x 2.3kg neodymium disc magnets. If they work through steel I will let you all know...

Ok. See new Oops thread!

Dave.

[2cams70]

If it were me I’d also be removing the oil pump to check the condition of it’s drive gear to be safe. If a piece of the distributor gear broke off and jammed between the oil pump and jackshaft gear it might have been damaged. You won’t see this by looking from above. The oil pump and distributor drive gears are softer than the jackshaft gear.

[Billmack]

I sheared off the oil pump gear on my mgtd 30 years ago. Teeth still on bottom of sumo as far as I know

[Slowtus]

What goes in the sump, stays in the sump...

...ideally.

[david.g.chapman]

I have just received my magnet discs. I tried extracting the shard with them but the threaded tube that forms the drain port stopped me.

However, the magnets are capable of pulling a screw about through 1.6mm steel, so I have left the 4 magnets spread out across the bottom of the sump. Any steel shards will definitely stay there now!

I've warmed the engine up and it's running fine.

Cheers,

Dave Chapman.

[ericbushby]

Hi Dave.
Well, you have surprised me. I did not think that a magnet would work like that through sheet steel.
Nothing is going to move about now.
Thankyou also for the service to the community that you will be performing by collecting all those loose nails and screws that litter our roads and cause punctures. That is very good of you.
If you find that your Elan is not as fast as it used to be, check underneath for extra ballast.
Cheers
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

[john.p.clegg]

I have some of those neothingy magnets strapped to the outside of my oil filter...

Can do no harm ?

John

[Donels]

Always amazed me how much crap collected on the magnetic drain plug of a classic mini. I suspect it came from the gearbox, but it kept going for 100k.