60K Help!!!

[SHOme]

In the process of measuring the shim for my number 1 exhaust my tappet holder tool flipped out and promptly disappeared somewhere!!! Spent an hour looking for it to no avail. How does everything that falls into an engine bay disappear, never to be found again

I noticed that there is a large oil drainage channel directly below and to passenger side of this cylinder. Does anyone know if the tool could fit down there? If it can how screwed am I? Also, would this tool fit down a spark plug hole (I don't think it will but I am not sure).

And before anyone says it, I don't want to test to see if it is in the engine by starting the engine and listening .

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[SolidState]

I just watched Mark N's 60k video and he specifically states to cover the oil drain hole to prevent tools and stuff from falling in

Anyways, I am taking a stab in the dark by saying drop the oil pan and see if it is in there.

 

[shojuan]

I don't think the tappet holder tool could fall down those oil holes. Well, I stand corrected. It does look thin enough but I don't think it would pop out of place and just fall down one of those holes. Get a good flashlight or a powerful shoplight and go hunting. Check between the V under the fuel rails and check everywhere in the engine bay it could have landed. If you've got one, use a telescoping magnetic pick up tool to retrieve the tappet holder tool. Don't think about dropping the pan until you've totally exhausted everything else. Even then you might run a clean telescoping magnet pick up tool down the oil holes to see if it catches the tool.

plug those holes with shop towels or even aluminum foil. It's lint free!

Rick

 

[luigisho]

I think I have heard of these tools ending up in there. That doesn't mean yours is. There are holes on each side so cover them both. I lost a bolt down there once. Not fun. the thing is the tubes go right to the oil pan and the screen should stop large stuff from going back into the motor. That's no excuse for driving around with debris in your oil system though. Keep looking in the general area.
For others, it's been posted before to have a string or something on the tool to keep it from going anywhere if it pops off.

 

[sdpatt]

There was a topic in this Forum about the same condition with the same cylinder. He removed the Y-pipe, starter and oil pan and found the tappet holder in the pan. Yes, the tappet holder WILL fit down the hole. I hope you find it on top of the steering rack or catalytic converter, but you may have to go the distance and drop the pan. I now use a lanyard on my tappet holder when doing the gapping so I can always recover it if it pops loose.

<small>[ September 10, 2002, 02:25 PM: Message edited by: sdpatt ]</small>

 

[Runningjon]

I recently did my 60K. On the very last shim I had to do the holder popped out and disappeared. First I said, Uh oh! Then I looked for it for about 30 minutes and couldn't find it, I figured that since it hadn't hit the ground that it was tangled up in a wiring harness somewhere, no big deal it'll fall out once I start moving right? Well I didn't find it until about a month later. I took the drain plug out to change my oil and out the tool came, all shiny and smooth.
All I am saying is that it is possible for that holder tool to go through the oil holes, didn't cause any damage to mine, in fact it polished the tool for me. But, you might want to check the oil drain hole before you do too much driving.

 

[shojuan]

Hehe, freshly heat treated and oil impregnated tappet holder! BETTER than new!

Rick

 

[ISHOU]

"I now use a lanyard on my tappet holder when doing the gapping so I can always recover it if it pops loose."

Hey Scott, what is a lanyard? I had mine pop out of place and after the second time I tied a string to it and a master cylinder brake line. I'm suprised Scott or Mark never mentioned to do this to prevent loosing the tappet holder.

 

[nothingtoseehere]

ISHOU:
"I now use a lanyard on my tappet holder when doing the gapping so I can always recover it if it pops loose."

Hey Scott, what is a lanyard? I had mine pop out of place and after the second time I tied a string to it and a master cylinder brake line. I'm suprised Scott or Mark never mentioned to do this to prevent loosing the tappet holder.

You nailed it

 

[sdpatt]

A lanyard is a string or line of some sort attached to a tool or part to allow recovery should it be dropped. You can think of it as a leash. I didn't mention it, but I have been doing it since I read the first topic about the tappet holder ending up in the oil pan. I have previously indicated that before doing any work in the valve gallery the four oil drain holes must be plugged to prevent foreign objects (read: tappet holders) from getting into the holes. That was a heck of an expensive lesson for somebody to learn. I (we) can certainly gain from their unfortunate experience.

 

[SHOfun 93]

Yep...I use lanyards to keep my whistle next to my shirt when I referee basketball...same kind of application. Prevents stuff from hitting the floor...

 

[Xs SHO 1]

maybe there was a tempermental flux on the space and time continuum creating a quantum rip in time! its possible!

 

[jdh00]

Maybe it gently slipped into a Calabi-Yau Manifold? I've dropped it into the return hole as well. Not a fun adventure frown

 

[SHOme]

Well I found it thumbs_u It was in the oil pan as suspected. The good thing is I was replacing the oil pan gaskets so the oil pan had to come off anyway.

Thanks everyone for your help .

 

[sdpatt]

Good find. Tough lesson.

 

[ISHOU]

I hate it when I answer my own questions.

 

[shojuan]

SHOme:
Well I found it thumbs_u It was in the oil pan as suspected. The good thing is I was replacing the oil pan gaskets so the oil pan had to come off anyway.

Thanks everyone for your help .

Hey, the great thing is you were going to change those gaskets anyways so the only thing you lost was the time spent hunting around for the damn thing.
thumbs_u
Rick