I was going to say, turn the motor upside down and shake it.
Help!! Screw in engine...accidentally
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,444
Likes: 4
From: Hawthorne NJ
Help!! Screw in engine...accidentally
I dropped the distributor cap screw down the hole when I was tying back the cap to keep it out of the way, so I could put new dist. in.
What can I do?
Thanks
What can I do?
Thanks
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,110
Likes: 6
From: Red Sox Nation! RI
Tear the motor apart and rebuild 
Pull the distributor and get one of those telescopic magnets and see if you can fish out the screw..
Pull the distributor and get one of those telescopic magnets and see if you can fish out the screw..
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 5,713
Likes: 105
From: Manassas VA
I would start with a flashlight and see if you can spot it. Get a magnet on a stick. You can get them at auto parts places or a hardware store. and if you seen it. pull it out with the magnet. If not fish around with the magnet. If that don't work, then pull the intake manifold. But whatever you do, don't run the car with it in there.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 16,836
Likes: 337
From: Database Error Indiana
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 5,107
Likes: 171
From: Dublin CA
You got lucky. Years ago when my son was about 4, he loved to help "Dad" work on the truck. I had just built a new engine with cam etc and had dropped it in. The very last thing to do was drop in the distributor. I could not find the lock down bolt. He had been crawling around in the engine bay. I took a flashlight and looked down the hole....DAMN...he had dropped the bolt down the hole. I tried a magnet...that didn't work. I ended up having to pull the pan. He is now a car fanatic and has my built 85!
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 20,172
Likes: 672
From: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
St. Jude '03 thru '24
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,745
Likes: 275
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
As long as you cannot see the screw when you look down the hole with a light, it may have fallen straight past the cam gear the oil pump drive slot and into the sump. as long as it fell into the sump you should be right maybe put a magnet on the sump to hold the screw till you drain the oil.
Not hard to remove the sump with engine in the car drain it first and see if the screw came out, remove starter and flexplate shield then remove the screws and drop the pan. remove the screw (it could have fallen on the crank splash shield so feel on top of there). Then fit new sump gaskets and put it back together.
Not hard to remove the sump with engine in the car drain it first and see if the screw came out, remove starter and flexplate shield then remove the screws and drop the pan. remove the screw (it could have fallen on the crank splash shield so feel on top of there). Then fit new sump gaskets and put it back together.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 321
Likes: 2
From: Auburndale FL
Couple months ago was putting 383 back in my vette, when installing the tpi runners a young guy helping me dropped a plastic gasket retainer down the intake, ofcourse the intake is ported so the plastic holder when all the to the intake valve.
I got really lucky it was the #1 cylinder and it was the intake valve - engine was at TDC. However the retainer is plastic and you couldn't see it nor could you reach your hand in there.
So I did something that shocked my wife, for the first time if 15 years of marriage I asked her for the vacuum cleaner, her face lit up, I guess she thought I was in a cleaning mood. Not so much, I took the hose attachment stuck it into the intake port and put duct tape (no really, duct tape) around the intake and hose attachment to seal the port, and fired that sucker up. It took about 30 seconds of fishing around be we got that gasket retainer back and then I asked him not to use them any more.
Just goes to show, guys can use vacuum cleaners....
Just sayin....
I got really lucky it was the #1 cylinder and it was the intake valve - engine was at TDC. However the retainer is plastic and you couldn't see it nor could you reach your hand in there.
So I did something that shocked my wife, for the first time if 15 years of marriage I asked her for the vacuum cleaner, her face lit up, I guess she thought I was in a cleaning mood. Not so much, I took the hose attachment stuck it into the intake port and put duct tape (no really, duct tape) around the intake and hose attachment to seal the port, and fired that sucker up. It took about 30 seconds of fishing around be we got that gasket retainer back and then I asked him not to use them any more.
Just goes to show, guys can use vacuum cleaners....
Just sayin....
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 878
Likes: 2
Yo Joe! With your luck running like that? Be sure to buy a 600 million dollar power ball lotto ticket for tonight. Don't forget your old buddy Mark who suggested it........