Need mechanics advice, and maybe a lawyer...

[fastmdpt]

Originally Posted by Silvereagle

Another way to get an object into the engine is to remove the oil fill cap and put a bolt in there.

That wouldn't get into the combustion chamber that way.

Tom

[GOATFALLS]

Originally Posted by ptma767

heres what i bet happend the boyfriend used the car and seeing that it was a turbo he beat the living crap out of it .then something broke and he limped it back to pick her up.there probly is no bolt .trust me ive seen people do it all the time..mabey im wrong but you never know........

this gets my vote

[mnstrmech]

hey everyone, as u can tell, im new here, and although i DONT own a pt, i am a tech at a chrysler dealership in elkhart, in, and i have first hand experience with a bolt falling into a cylinder. it happened on a pacifica, and it was only a 7 mm bolt, the car ran, rough, but ran, (one valve was bent.). so theirs no way a 10mm bolt will fall past the valves and cause the engine to not start!!

[ucantcme]

Originally Posted by mnstrmech

hey everyone, as u can tell, im new here, and although i DONT own a pt, i am a tech at a chrysler dealership in elkhart, in, and i have first hand experience with a bolt falling into a cylinder. it happened on a pacifica, and it was only a 7 mm bolt, the car ran, rough, but ran, (one valve was bent.). so theirs no way a 10mm bolt will fall past the valves and cause the engine to not start!!

Where would it come from though?

[mnstrmech]

the tech before me pulled the front head to change the head, so im guessing it fell in the intake manifold when it was off the car.

[ucantcme]

Originally Posted by mnstrmech

the tech before me pulled the front head to change the head, so im guessing it fell in the intake manifold when it was off the car.

And it would take 4000+ miles to effect anything?

Im not trying to quiz you, just trying to understand how this happened. Thanks

[mnstrmech]

in my situtation, it was only worked on about 500 miles prior, and it just soo happened when it actually got sucked into the manifold, it was while i was on a test drive of the vehicle for something totally different. im just trying to back up the fact that i seriously doubt that a 10mm bolt would lodge itself into the combustion chamber and lock up the motor!! im tyring to take streedeacon's side and call that dealer b.s!!! hell, i know the last few weeks have been realy slow at our shop, and im sure it prolly was thier too, i think they are just looking for something to make thier month!!

[StreetDeacon]

Originally Posted by Silvereagle

I have a question. How did anyone get under the hood in the first place, Doesn't your sister or her boy friend keep there PT locked. Another way to get an object into the engine is to remove the oil fill cap and put a bolt in there. I'd be more interested in how the boy friend drives her car when she's not in it. Does he have a heavy foot. Maybe something did come loose.

I asked a mechanic friend of mine that same question, and he told me he can pop a hood with a screwdriver.

[StreetDeacon]

OK. First off, I’d like to, again, thank everyone for their input. As for me, I wash my hands of this crap, LOL. I’m trying to help my sister and her boyfriend out by asking you guys, but it seems they’re just going to let the car dealerships walk all over them. It’s one of those situations where you care for someone and try to help them, but they just won’t help their self. Like the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

So they went back to the dealership this morning. The dealership showed them the bolt. It’s an 8mm bolt, not a 10mm bolt. I don’t know if her boyfriend heard wrong the first time, or what. They didn’t take a picture of the bolt, but her boyfriend said it was about as big around as a pencil and as long as his pinky finger. The mechanics are saying the sabotage can be done in about 2 mins. My sisters boyfriend said the mechanic there told him that the bolt must have been dropped in through the breather at the intake. Something about just loosing a screw and pulling the hose out, and dropping the bolt in. I don’t know if that makes sense. Apparently, her boyfriend knows as little about car motors as I do.

Anyway, I’m still curious if any you guys think that’s possible, but I’m pretty much over it.

Oh, I almost forgot. They are considering it an act of vandalism, so her car insurance will take care of it. Still pisses me off, cuz I don’t want that dealership to make any money from this. I still think they are trying to cover something up. The insurance company will send adjusters out to look at it. I hope they send a good mechanic that will call their BS.

[lakersfan1]

If an 8mm bolt by some act of God did make it past a valve, it would be chewed to hell.