Huge blunder on my part. Please help!

[vetplus40]

Left a rag in the intake manifold of my 2014 Stingray 180 RX with a 3.0 engine. Now the rag is partly in my #2 intake and partly in the #2 cylinder. I am in the process of removing the head to survey the damage. Any thoughts on what to look for? Been a "lurker" here for a while now and never envisioned my first post being related to doing something so stupid.
Thanks for any thoughts or advice.


For those that may be interested in how I got in this mess: I had an annoying "whistling" sound between 2800-3000 rpm (when the throttle butterfly was just partially cracked) after weeks of thinking it was squeaking belts, I finally determined that it was a casting imperfection in the manifold jut past where the throttle body mounted. Air rushing by this hump was causing the noise. I first attempted a "fix" by using a little file and got rid of most of the noise. I decided to get the rest of the hump with a little Dremel tool a few days ago. Even after reminding myself several times to remove the rag, I simply forgot and here I am. So, kindly give me the "dumbass" award for July...…...

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

Your probably ok once you remove the rag -- but you should probably check to see that the piston did not hit the valve

 

[JoLin]

If we all avoided posting because we "did something stupid" this place would be deserted.

Welcome aboard. Good luck. I'm guessing you'll be fine.

My .02

 

[G_Hipster]

I would probably check the valve on that cylinder while the head is off via filling the chamber with gas and looking for leaks in the ports, with light, or with a vacuum pump if so set up. IMHO sometimes it just doesn't take much to bend a valve.

 

[tpenfield]

:welcome:

I am wondering if you can get the rag out by merely taking off the intake manifold, rather than the head. I agree with the others that there may be no damage, except to your pride

I assume that the rag got sucked in when trying to start the engine? Did the engine actually start? If it was running for any period of time, then there may be some damage.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Manually turn motor backwards and pull rag back out intake

BTW, the whistling is the throttle blades vibrating as air goes over them

 

[vetplus40]

The motor did start and run, but I shut it down pretty quickly after I realized what I had done. I had no idea that a rag could be sucked in that way. After pulling the head, the way that the rag was stuck under the intake and exhaust valve, a head removal was required. On a positive note, everything looks okay...…. Finding gaskets for a simple 3.0 is becoming problematic, but I finally found some.

Thanks for the replies. My intent for posting was twofold.To get info and to help someone else possibly avoid the same mistake. You guys took care of the first part. Hopefully, somebody can learn and avoid my mistake.