Dropped valve adjusting nut
Thread Starter
Track Day
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 20
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Dropped valve adjusting nut
Removing valve adjusting nut to clean the threads on adjuster. Dropped the nut on the #5 cylinder intake side. Any help on trying to locate it. Tried a magnet no luck. Cant even visually see it. Any help is appreciated.
Tracy
Tracy
RL Community Team
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Joined: May 2004
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From: Toronto
Borescope may be a good approach!
Did you have both upper and lower valve covers off? If not, definitely remove both. Also, remove the section of engine tin between the valve covers as this will improve access and give you more options for positioning lights and mirrors. Find/buy some small high intensity LED flashlights and a mechanics mirror is you don't already have.
Most likely the nut is somewhere in the cam housing but there are a lot of corners in there where is might hide, so getting a really bright light and pointing it at all angles and using the mirror may be necessary. The magnet is sometimes hard to use, because the camshaft/rockers etc. tend to pull it, and if the nut is a little trapped, the magnet may not quite get close enough. When you do spot the nut, you may find a dental pick or something similar can help retrieve it.
The worst case would be if the nut somehow bounced into one of the oil return tubes (always a good idea to block with a rag, but you know that now). I can see it being more likely if the lower valve cover was still in place, and the nut bounced off the inside face. It is hard to imagine the nut ending up entering the oil return tube otherwise, but perhaps it is possible. If it did actually manage to bounce into the oil return tube, there is still a good chance that it did not pass all the way through the tube, so feed the magnet (telescopic type) slowly into each tube and see. If you have an older engine with the sump plate then that will be the last resort. A newer engine (e.g. 3.2) without the sump plate would be more of a problem if the nut did end up going all the way through the tube into the crankcase.
HOWEVER, the chances of all that are low. Almost certainly the nut is hiding somewhere in the cam tower, just be patient, get good access and use LOTS of light.
Did you have both upper and lower valve covers off? If not, definitely remove both. Also, remove the section of engine tin between the valve covers as this will improve access and give you more options for positioning lights and mirrors. Find/buy some small high intensity LED flashlights and a mechanics mirror is you don't already have.
Most likely the nut is somewhere in the cam housing but there are a lot of corners in there where is might hide, so getting a really bright light and pointing it at all angles and using the mirror may be necessary. The magnet is sometimes hard to use, because the camshaft/rockers etc. tend to pull it, and if the nut is a little trapped, the magnet may not quite get close enough. When you do spot the nut, you may find a dental pick or something similar can help retrieve it.
The worst case would be if the nut somehow bounced into one of the oil return tubes (always a good idea to block with a rag, but you know that now). I can see it being more likely if the lower valve cover was still in place, and the nut bounced off the inside face. It is hard to imagine the nut ending up entering the oil return tube otherwise, but perhaps it is possible. If it did actually manage to bounce into the oil return tube, there is still a good chance that it did not pass all the way through the tube, so feed the magnet (telescopic type) slowly into each tube and see. If you have an older engine with the sump plate then that will be the last resort. A newer engine (e.g. 3.2) without the sump plate would be more of a problem if the nut did end up going all the way through the tube into the crankcase.
HOWEVER, the chances of all that are low. Almost certainly the nut is hiding somewhere in the cam tower, just be patient, get good access and use LOTS of light.
Thread Starter
Track Day
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
The lower valve cover was still in place. I will start with removing it and the engine tin to gain a little more access. I know each cylinder chamber is separate so it hadn't travelled from one side to the other. I will continue and a side note the spark plugs are in so it hasn't reached the internal part of the cylinder. It is a 1980 and has the removable sump plate if in fact the nut travelled that far.