Hey everyone, first post here. I apologize if this has already been discussed. I did a quick search, but didn't see anything.

Long story short, I tried to remove the rubber plug on the timing cover (1988 v12). It was still somewhat soft, but the inner half of it separated from the exposed part, and fell into the chain case. Yes, I'm really kicking myself here, because it turns out I didn't even to remove the damn plug. I'm 100% sure it's in there in one piece.

So, my question here is retrieving it. If I pull the cam cover on that side, is there space enough around the chain that I may be able to see down in there, and maybe hook it with a coat hanger to pull it out?

I really don't want to drop the oil pan, and REALLY don't want to pull the timing cover.

Again, I'm kicking my own a%$ over having done this. Thaks for any help!

Nate

 

You don't need to retrieve it. Losing part of it when replacing is common, and is discussed in Palm's Book. It will not harm anything at all.

 

What book is this? I'm not familiar, I'll do a search for it. I would think that at very least it'd get chewed up and clog the oil pickup. Your saying this doesn't happen?

 

The BOOK:
9374889675017563896821
See page 47

 

Ok, I found where Kirby mentions in in his book:

"If a piece or two falls down inside, don’t worry about it, they’re too soft to do any serious damage. They’ll probably just come out in the next oil change; it’s definitely not worth further disassembly"

Well I like what I hear, but this piece that I lost is a single chunk, but probably 1/3rd of the entire plug. Still worried about it getting shredded and sucked into the oil pickup screen. On the other hand, maybe it would make it down into the pan without breaking up much. What is the clearance like on either side of the chain, would this piece slip by without being ground up by the chain? Also at the bottom of the timing chain area, would a chunk this size make it around the oil pump into the pan?

I'm gonna try a borescope through the hole and see if I can hook it, but I'm not very optimistic with this idea...

 

Agree 100%,

It may get chewed up, MAYBE, but the oil pick up is HUGE.
Mostly the bits come out with the next oil change, or you find them in odd places when the day comes (about 500K mikes) when the sumps are off for something else.
None of mine had issues with that plug falling inside.

Have a beer or 3 and move on.

 

Mine dropped a big piece in years before I removed the sump. Found it in the pickup strainer. No worries leave it there.