carrera964

My 89 C4 had been sitting in the garage for too long due to a severe oil leak(s). I finally had some time to work on it last night. After removing the intake and cleaning (what seemed like) several pounds of gunk from the engine, oil tank, and lines, I removed the breather cover. As I was beginning to wipe down the gasket surface, I accidentally knocked a small bracket down the black hole into the engine. I'm not sure what it was, it was sitting next to the hole towards the rear of the car after I had removed the breather cover. It was most likely part of the breather assembly, but I didn't notice it when I had unscrewed the four nuts that hold the cover on. It appeared to have a brass-like color and was perhaps a couple inches in length. It was about a quarter inch wide and had some bends in it. Like a flat noodle. Some type of retaining bracket.

A friend who was helping me tried to get it out using an adhesive magnetic strip. After a few minutes, he must have bumped into it, because we heard it fall off the crank or a rod and tinkle down into the bottom of the motor. We tried other magnets, both flexible and bendable with no luck getting around a part of the case down in the breather hole. I'm not even sure if it is ferrous(magnetic). We even tried using a small clear tube connected to a shop vac trying to suck it up, with no luck. There is just no room to get in there. We also drained the oil from the case and looked thru the drain plug with no luck.

We were thinking about trying to take out the middle oil return tube and trying to fish it out through there, but I don't know if that will work. So short of pulling the motor and the center slug to get access, does anyone have any advice on how to retrieve the bracket in a cost effective manner?

Thanks,

Matt

hawk911

Oh dang! You tried everything I would have suggested. The bad part may have been the second fall deeper into the engine.

dfinnegan

There are some reasonably inexpensive borescopes on the market.
A sampling
Sorted by price

MisterRisky

Oh man that sucks. I suspect it was ferrous and your process is, as hawk said, exactly what I would have done. I like the idea of the borescope, maybe you can find a place in Charlotte that will rent you one.

I'm having a little trouble visualizing where it went. If it went down the air intake and into a cylinder it would have to be inside the cylinder, no? I can't picture how it would get into the crank area. Maybe I am visualizing the wrong hole.

carrera964

It went down the breather hole, not the intake. I was smart enough to cover the intake tubes with towels after pulling the intake. So the part is now sitting somewhere on the bottom of the engine crankcase. Someone here at work suggested getting a powerful magnet and trying to drag the part to the drain hole or somewhere where I can get at it. I'll look into the bore scope. Also considering pulling the motor and turning it upside down and giving it a good shake. Thanks,

mk

Bummed in Mooresville
89 C4-2

dfinnegan

mk,

Good luck. This has got to be the all time worst first post ever!

Dave

MisterRisky

Ahhh.. that makes sense. Can you drain the oil and then have one guy on top with a magnet on a rod and another guy on the bottom fishing around up through the oil drain hole. I have to admit, you win the Perplexing Conundrum of the Week Award. Quite a feat for your first post!

I'd give you crap for not posting a picture of your car and all that "new guy" stuff, but I am vicariously bummed for you. Keep us posted on how it goes.

dfinnegan

You might grab a copy of Wayne Dempsy's "How to Rebuild and Modify Porsche 911 Engines" book. It's not based upon a 3.6, but it has lots of pictures of the engine internals which don't change much. At least you could have an idea of what things look like inside.

carrera964

Thanks Dave. I think your right. I would rather have posted about how much fun it is to drive the car. I should have done this first, but I'll introduce myself and my car now.

Hi, I am Matt, and I am a Porsche addict...

I moved to Mooresville, NC a couple years ago to get involved in racing after living in Florida and going to Sebring and Daytona every year to watch sports car racing. I currently work for Riley Technologies (http://www.rileytech.com - web site is going to look much better when I finish a complete update later this year) where I am the IT manager among other things. We build the Daytona Prototypes and offer a GT chassis for the Rolex Grand-Am Series and most recently built a GT2 Corvette for ALMS.

My car is an 89 Carerra4, Guards red, 5 spd. I call it a 4-2 since the front drivetrain was removed. Some highlights include:
Camber Plates, Monoballs, Strut brace, Bilstein shocks, Big (Yellow) brakes, 17" Cup Wheels, Chip, Gutted Cat, Secondary Muffler bypass, RS lightweight flywheel, Momo Wheel, Billet Pedals, Pioneer/MB Quart Sound, etc...

dfinnegan

Looks very nice with nice mods, as well!
I'm sure several folks here will be interested in your 4-2 conversion. It comes up from time to time.

Welcome!

dfinnegan

Here's a pic that may be helpful . . .

deep_uv

I remember someone posting about retrieving a part lost down the oil temp sensor hole with a shop vac. Not sure exactly what they did, but some duct tape and a length of 1/2" OD hard plastic tubing comes to mind. Time to get creative.

Welcome and Good luck!

carrera964

Thanks for the compliments and the pic.

Based on that image, I'd say the item in question is sitting on or around the oil pump since it veered to the opening on the right (by the toe of the bottom foot) and then got knocked off its perch towards the bottom. I'm wondering if retrievng it thru the return tube is even viable since it looks like the oil pump covers it. I might have to turn it up side down and shake it. Or Maybe I'll shoot some compressed air into the oil drain while its upside down. Do you have any other pics that show more of the bottom end to the left(front)?

Maybe I could offset the cost of a rebuild if I started a pool to pinpoint exactly how long the engine would run, as is, until a catastrophic failure.

carrera964

Thanks deep. I tried that using 3/8 clear tubing, but had no luck so far. Getting around the corner of the case just below breather hole and then straight down and actually manipulating the hose is difficult.

tbennett017

+1 on the Boroscope.. Its a great excuse to actually purchase the correct tool, and they're not that much compared to the kind of work you are considering.