Dropped screw extractor in head

[jonheese]

I'm in the process of getting my 3.2L engine ready to put into my '90 (it's currently on an engine stand in the garage), and I had a little snafu today...

I was tightening the valve cover bolts on the rear head and one of them broke off at the base of the threads. So I took the valve cover back off, drilled a 5/64" hole in the center of the stuck portion of the bolt and tried my smallest screw extractor: No love, still stuck.

So, I was taking that screw extractor back out to try a 7/64" hole and my next bigger screw extractor, and woops-- dropped the mother-loving extractor in the head, and of course, it goes right down the oil passage in the rear passenger corner of the head, and I can hear it "tink!" down to what sounds like the oil pan.

So, my question is: Is this oil passage a (somewhat) straight shot down to the oil pan? Thus, should the extractor just be sitting in the bottom of the oil pan if I were to take it back off?

The reason I ask, instead of just checking, is that I just buttoned up the bottom end of this engine last week, and I really don't want to drop the pan and have to redo the gasket surface and all that jazz, unless I absolutely have to...

So, assuming the oil drain passage is a straight shot to the pan, does anyone think I won't be okay just leaving it in there until the pan has to come down for something else (hopefully many months/years in my future)? I don't need the screw extractor anymore.

For anyone interested, I was able to get the broken VC bolt out with the 7/64" screw extractor no problem, so the top end is all buttoned up now.

Regards,
Jon Heese

 

[Racer X]

It's probably sitting on top of the baffle. Personally, I wouldn't leave a foreign object sitting in the oil pan.

FWIW, I've done the same thing with the engine on the stand. Another hour getting that piece now sure as **** beats kicking yourself down the road when you find yourself having to deal with FOD.

 

[jonheese]

It's probably sitting on top of the baffle. Personally, I wouldn't leave a foreign object sitting in the oil pan.

FWIW, I've done the same thing with the engine on the stand. Another hour getting that piece now sure as **** beats kicking yourself down the road when you find yourself having to deal with FOD.

Gotcha. That's what I was worried you'd say...

I guess I'm gonna need another tube of RTV then. :/

Regards,
Jon Heese

 

[Off Road SHO]

I don't believe the oil drain back holes empty to the top of the windage tray. I think they go right down to the oil pan. It wouldn't make sense to have the oil go past the most turbulent part of the crankcase on its way to the pan.

If you still have it on the stand, rotate that bad boy till you hear it hit the pan. If you can get it to the pan, you might be able to use a strong magnet to work it over to the drain hole. Even if you can't get it out of the pan, it won't hurt for it to be there until your next pan removal.

Tom

 

[sho'noffmtx]

this same thing happened 2 me this summer. dropped the easy out down the oil return hole on the rear head. Just pull the oil pan and it should be sitting in there. its a couple hours of time now but in the long run you will be better off. Good Luck

 

[jonheese]

I don't believe the oil drain back holes empty to the top of the windage tray. I think they go right down to the oil pan. It wouldn't make sense to have the oil go past the most turbulent part of the crankcase on its way to the pan.

If you still have it on the stand, rotate that bad boy till you hear it hit the pan. If you can get it to the pan, you might be able to use a strong magnet to work it over to the drain hole. Even if you can't get it out of the pan, it won't hurt for it to be there until your next pan removal.

Tom

Aha! Now there's an idea I can get behind...

I'll go try it now. Thanks, Tom.

Regards,
Jon Heese

 

[HotRodKid]

I don't believe the oil drain back holes empty to the top of the windage tray. I think they go right down to the oil pan.

im also quite sure that the passage ends below the windage tray, as the oil pan i have has areas where there are "walls" inside the pan to direct the returned oil so its not just splashing around down there. the oil is given a chance to drop 100% to the floor of the pan before it has to meet the turbulant air of the crank case.

 

[jonheese]

Well, I went out and tried the magnet...

I was able to find the extractor on the passenger-side "shelf" in the oilpan, as I could hear it scooting around when I moved the magnet around, and the magnet would hold to the pan by the magnetic force in whatever spot I'd leave it.

However, I wasn't able to get it to drop into the lower section of the oil pan. Whenever I tried to get it to jump off the cliff, so to speak, I'd lose the magnetic force, only to find that it was still back up at the cliff.

So then I decided to try a "running start", by backing it all the way up to the passenger-side end of the pan, and then quickly running the magnet over the edge of the cliff...

And now it's gone.

If memory serves, isn't there a baffle in the pan (it's the MTX pan) there? Could it just be stuck up on the baffle at shelf-level?

I figure I'll go back out tomorrow and try rotating the engine on the stand to get it to roll around and maybe fall through the holes in the baffle. When I tried rotating the engine first thing, I didn't hear anything clinking around, but I think that may just be due to the oil residue still left pooling in the pan. It's a dinky little extractor, and I think the oil goop probably keeps it quiet.

Thanks for any tips and advice, guys.

Regards,
Jon Heese

 

[HotRodKid]

this should help in your quest to shake that bugger loose

 

[jonheese]

this should help in your quest to shake that bugger loose

Awesome, that's exactly what I was hoping for.

I've got an ATX pan on my spare engine, but I wasn't sure exactly what was different between the two, so I hadn't bothered pulling it and looking yet.

So yeah, I'd definitely say the little bugger is up on that baffle, probably in one of those center depressions... I'm guessing if I can rotate the engine so that gravity pulls it towards that keyhole-type hole in the bottom of your picture, I may be able to get it down in the bottom of the pan. Or at the very least, I can "grab" it with my magnet and coax it down.

Thanks again.

Regards,
Jon Heese

 

[Gez89SHO]

I've got an ATX pan on my spare engine, but I wasn't sure exactly what was different between the two, so I hadn't bothered pulling it and looking yet.

Be aware that is an MTX oil pan, actually it's mine. I took that pic

 

[Off Road SHO]

In the words of a great man...Fugeddabowdit. It's not going to hurt anything in its current location.

Tom

 

[jonheese]

Be aware that is an MTX oil pan, actually it's mine. I took that pic

Right, that's exactly what I want, because the pan on my 3.2L is an MTX pan (it's going into my '90 when I'm finally done with it).

In the words of a great man...Fugeddabowdit. It's not going to hurt anything in its current location.

Ya know, that's what I thought at first, and I almost just left it there, but that nagging in the back of my head said, "Just post it to the forum and make sure the brains there agree with you..."

I think the (low) risk involved is not enough to justify the time and effort of dropping the pan ("prying like the dickens" is really a better description), scraping all the RTV off the gasket surfaces, re-RTVing the pan and then torquing it all back up...

Thanks for the reassurance, Tom.

Regards,
Jon Heese

 

[AREA 91]

This is just my opnion, but I would never leave a foreign object anywhere in the engine. I would try my hardest to get it out without pulling the oil pan. If it won't come out, the pan is coming off.

Don't feel bad. I have dropped the tapped holder down the same hole you did. Lesson learned.

 

[pjtoledo]

is there an oil level sensor on your pan? that should be big enough to put a skinny probe light in. or put the light in the drain hole and look in the sensor hole, and get a magnet on a flexible shaft.

 

[jonheese]

is there an oil level sensor on your pan? that should be big enough to put a skinny probe light in. or put the light in the drain hole and look in the sensor hole, and get a magnet on a flexible shaft.

That's a really good idea...

Once I get the time to go back out there and see if I can work the extractor down into the bottom of the pan, I'll definitely give that a try.

Thanks for the idea.

Regards,
Jon Heese

 

[Off Road SHO]

Jon,

Perry's idea is for when the tool is on top of the "tool catcher" tray which sounds like your situation. The oil level sensor hole is above that tray. So try his solution before you try and get the extractor down to the bottom.

Tom

 

[jonheese]

Woops. That's what I get for replying without looking at the darn thing. I hope that I would've noticed that before I started trying to get it down into the bottom of the pan.

Thanks.

Regards,
Jon Heese

 

[sho'noffmtx]

This is just my opnion, but I would never leave a foreign object anywhere in the engine. I would try my hardest to get it out without pulling the oil pan. If it won't come out, the pan is coming off.

JMO, but I couldnt agree more. The hour of time and $5 in silicone would be best spent now to avoid time and $$$ pulling the motor in the future.

The odds that something will happen are slim but you never know...

 

[sricks89]

Take the time to pull the pan and remove it. It's cheap insurance that you will never have any problems with it later, personally i've found that (Murphy's law haha) "if it can go wrong, it will." I just figured i'd give my 2 cents! Good luck!