Having anything solid entering the combustion chamber is almost certain to do some damage, the only question is how much. Something the size of a butterfly plate screw could go in and out in one cycle with very little damage. If a butterfly plate went in (assuming that it could actually fit past an intake valve) it would likely do a lot of damage, but most likely to the valves and the top of the piston.Thank you all for your replies. I will work on it this week, and keep you posted. I have also found a motor for about $1500 with 112k miles on it. So if it comes out to that, I kinda have it covered, though It will suck to pay for freight. So I do hope is one of the simple fixes mentioned previously. Question, wouldn't anything falling into a cylinder bore mess the walls up? That means I would need a new engine doesn't it?
Like I said, pull out the spark plugs and look at them for damage. If there's nothing obvious then do a compression check to see if there's a mechanical problem of some sort. If there's nothing conclusive there then you'll need to pull off the valve cover and inspect the valve train for any issues.