Off topic.. just got a call from a friend of mine. Changing his oil and while he's removing the foil

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Dec 14, 2004 | 01:30 PM

A8CT

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From: CT

Off topic.. just got a call from a friend of mine. Changing his oil and while he's removing the foil

off the top of the bottle, it falls right into the oil fill hole and dissapears inside the valve cover. Do you guys think this could cause any damage ?(not that he could do anything about it now). I told him that it will probably get broken up pretty quickly into small pieces. It's certainly not hard enough to do any damage that way. I suppose it could get caught somewhere and block an oil gallery. I could see how this could happen if you're not careful.

Bob

Dec 14, 2004 | 01:41 PM

tozoM8

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Off topic.. just got a call from a friend of mine. Changing his oil and while he's removing the foil

I don't think it is going to break a part, it is oil resistant. More likely it will clog something soon or later.

Dec 14, 2004 | 02:13 PM

99A8Q

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Bummer. Before starting the car, I'd remove the valve cover and get that OUT of there!

A clogged gallery will cause a pricey problem.

Dec 14, 2004 | 02:31 PM

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Re: Off topic.. just got a call from a friend of mine

Pull the valve cover. Most likely it will not do any harm, but there is a chance it could do some damage. It will most likely not break apart, rather it will be crushed and folded by the valve springs and could turn into a very big problem if it ends up in the wrong place. Worst case is it gets sucked into a cylinder and bends a valve or two. It could also block an oil galley and starve a valvetrain component of oil.

Pulling a valve cover is no big deal.

Dec 14, 2004 | 02:35 PM

ryoung

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Well ...

Was it an Audi? Audi or not, though, I'd remove the valve cover and find the foil.

All the oil that get's pumped up to the valve train and cams drains by gravity back to the oil sump. I've never seen a pic looking straight down on an A8 head (if it was an A8), but there's probably a hole on each end of the head that allows a straight shot down to the oil sump. Depending on the shape of the foil, I believe there's a good chance that it'll get hung up either on or in one of these holes. The result could be that the oil is slow draining back to the sump, and as it accumulates up on the head, you get a low level in the sump.

If the foil makes it to the sump, if you're lucky, it might just stay there. If not ...

There's probably a coarse screen over the suction to the oil pump. If the foil gets sucked up against the screen, you'd partially block flow to the pump ... not good. The oil pump could cavite and/or you'd get oil low flow and pressure to the motor.