| Following up on my previous turbo failure post - I took some macro pictures of the debris found clogging the oil line restrictor to see if more detail would shed some light on what it was. Sure enough - I could tell right away that it had been an insect of some kind: 
We spent the evening puzzling over how on earth an insect could end up there. My thought was that maybe, while the hose or restrictor piece was new on a shelf, an insect had crawled unnoticed into that cozy dark place. I posted these pictures a couple places where I have entomologist friends to see if anyone could tell what exactly it used to be; to find if it was, in fact, a crevice-loving kind. Turns out that - nope - it was a pregnant crane fly. Crane flies are those bumbling fliers that look like gigantic mosquitoes: 
This guy said he often finds them crushed on the sidewalk with those black eggs spilling out of them just like this. He also identified the pointy bit as the female's ovipositor. The straight sections look very much like the abdomen of a crane fly. Okaaaayyyy... How did THAT end up in there? With their wings and long legs, they definitely don't go seeking tight spaces. My latest theory is that, while I was under the car doing an oil change and the oil cap was off above, it flew into the crank case, and eventually worked its way through the system to end up there. Or maybe while we worked on the engine the last time, it flew into an uncovered part. But we're pretty good about keeping things covered. Lesson learned: ALWAYS keep all entry points covered unless they're under your direct observation! More debris photos here under "Oil line debris". Anyone else got a theory??
You don't have to live in a bubble just because someone else caught the flu. Make your decision on your ability to trust yourself. - NytWolf 15:49:05 12/17/06
I was previously a aviation mechanic and avionic technician and this car is harder to work on than Aircraft. - Hocuz77 03:04:56 02/28/06 |
A bug in the system - 
