odonnell

...I dropped a bolt (like M8, not a small one) down that OT window. I used a magnet to pick it up but it fell and landed somewhere I couldn't see. Starter is out and no hope, even after rotating the engine by hand every which way. It doesn't bind up anywhere in the rotation but I'm not touching the ignition until the bolt is out.

Before I start moving back the torque tube, does anyone have last minute tricks? I know it's a well-documented thing but usually it's little bolts that can slide out through the starter hole. This bolt is the one that holds the ground strap to the bellhousing.

Anyone have an uprated clutch disk that will fit in an NA housing they want to sell? Mine is recent, but is rubber centered (PO decision). Or a 951 or S2 trans local to Houston? May as well ask.

Tiger03447

OUCH!

Jfrahm

shop vac. Big shop vac.

wildcat077

Get a blow gun with a long nozzle and see if you can blow it out or dislodge it somehow ... did that with my 911 when i somehow dropped a slave cylinder bolt in the bellhousing !

Cheers
Phil

mytrplseven

Pick the car up and shake it.......

odurandina

oh dear.

FRporscheman

I've dropped more bolts into the bellhousing than I'm willing to admit... but every time it either fell out on its own, or it came out of the starter hole.

Except 1 time... I turned the engine a few degrees and through the OT hole I saw the bolt sitting on top of the flywheel.

odonnell

Don't have compressed air, but I've tried about everything else. The plugs are out and the engine spins freely, I've probably spun in 10 rotations in either direction. Clutch action is fine. I've tapped around the bellhousing with a rubber mallet in case it was balancing on something. If I don't get anywhere by the end of the day, I'm doing it the hard way.

StoogeMoe

Oh that blows. I bet you won't forget to put a rag over that hole next time.

odonnell

No kidding. I just put the torque tube in last year, so at least I know there won't be (shouldn't be?) any surprises with seized bolts up to that point. I'm thinking it must have fallen into the clutch assembly - I stuck one of those flexible magnetic grabber things in from the bottom and followed the flywheel up all the way to the OT mark, nothing. Same with the ridge on the outside of the ring gear.

Since I don't have reference sensors any more and I made a TDC mark on the new trigger wheel, I'm thinking about just making a simple block-off plate that will cover the window and the sensor holes. It will mount by using the bolts that secured the sensors. Or, just find the right shaped rubber stoppers.

edit: for removing the bellhousing, does the clutch fork pin need to come out? Clarks says it does but I'm finding pictures of 944 bellhousings where the fork is still installed, and it's off the car.

Jfrahm

Seems like it'd be worth buying a $150 HF compressor, or borrowing one. What about a big shop vac, did you try that?

Heck I'd probably drop a firecracker in there before pulling it all apart.

ninjacoco

Great, now I have another thing to be paranoid about.

(OT: Holy *****, your interior looks pristine.)

944Ross

Do you have a video borescope? They are like $70 at Harbor Fright and other places, VERY useful in situations like this. Mine has LED lights on the camera. If you can see where it is with the scope, you'll know how to retrieve it.

odonnell

I start working full time in a few weeks, so I decided to just bite the bullet and take it apart while I still have some sort of free time. Oh well, **** happens, I'll be replacing all the corroded fasteners probably some clutch related items as I go, so it won't be a total waste. I took off the exhaust tonight and plan on working on it when time permits. The only part I'm not hands-on familiar with is the bellhousing but there seems to be ample documentation.

Just cover the hole when working back there, unlike me, and you'll be fine!

My interior is probably less impressive in person, but thanks! If you're ever down in Houston give me a shout, happy to underwhelm locals.


and thanks to everyone offering tips! I tried a lot of them today. I made some fittings for my shop-vac that provided high pressure air but nothing seemed to budge. The borescopes I found were too big to fit in the crevices (well, the borescopes I found that were within the budget I was willing to pay before I did manual labor). I got a nifty LED magenetic tool that allowed me to see some places where it wasn't, which was nice but still offered no solution. Like I said, just going to do the work while I'm still relatively untasked.

FRporscheman

Did you look around on the floor? I mean, look thoroughly, further away than seems logical, and behind/under that thing that there's no way a bolt can roll behind/under? Maybe it fell out already and you didn't notice.

There's nowhere in the bellhousing for a bolt to get stuck, is there? Maybe on the fork? ..... Try removing the slave, and remove the fork pivot pin, then wiggle the fork around to see if the bolt drops down.