The other day I was changing my valve cover gaskets. In order to set the new gaskets the surface needs to be pretty clean. My tool of choice is a razor blade. Of course I always take care not to damage the mounting surface but I wasn't planning for what happened next. Because of the amount of wirse and space to work in I dropped the razor blade into the head. The only thing I had that was magnetic was a screw driver. I was able to retrieve the blade a little and then if fell back into the head. This time it went deeper. Being that it was Sunday most everything is closed. So I began to fish with some wire but no luck. I could actualy hear the blde drop into the engine. I'm guessing it fell into the oil pan. So now I have to drop the front diff. and drop the pan just to retreive the razor blade.

I needed an oil change anyway but this WAS NOT the way I wanted to go about it. Guess I'll be more careful in the future.

 

lol that sucks man sorry for ya.
_____________________________________
95 Toyota 4runner SR5 V6 3.0 Autoamtic 150,000 Miles

 

I would leave it. If it fell all the way to the bottom it probebly won't go anywhere else just slosh around in the pan.

 

If its in the pan. If it got in any of the shafts in there and you start it. If might make a few noises.

 

If an moving part from the engine hits that blade you'll shards of "high" grade metal in your oil.

I know a guy drop a little nut down the carb of his brand new 454 ... fell all the way in to a cylinder and had to the heads back off

 

remove motor mounts,(only 2 on a 22RE) jack the engine up remove oil pan, This is a lot easier than removing the axle

 

Would this concept work for the 3.0 V6 ???

 

I am not familiar w/ the 3.0, but is there really a passage that goes from top of the head ALL THE WAY to the oil pan large enough to pass a full sized razor blade? I'm guessing not, someone please correct me if I am wrong...

 

Here are a couple of pictures for reference. Does anyone know for sure if that hole leads directly to the oil pan?

 

Well, it certainly looks big enough to pass a razor blade in that picture.

 

i personally dont think it would matter, if you think it made it to the pan try draining your oil then moving a strong magnet around your pan on the outside and try to get it towards your drain hole and c if you can bend it and get it out.....other than that i almost wouldnt worry about it im thinking the worst it could do would be sucked up into the oil pump screen and block that....

 

Today I went and bought a flex magnet. I was going to drain the oil and see if I can bring the razor at least to the drain hole. I doubt I'll be able to bend it through the drain hole. I did however by a set of magnets to stick on the bottom of the pan once I confirm that the blade is in there. There are usually one or two magnets in the oil pan but I just want to make sure. I have a 1500 mile trip comming up pretty soon and don't want to risk anything.

 

On a similar note:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...67739.ece?%3F2

AN X-ray shows the 13-inch blade surgeons left inside Donald Church’s stomach.
Donald, 49, was in pain for two months after a tumour op. The metal was found after he went through airport detectors.

He won £53,000 in Seattle, US. His lawyer said: “It was the equivalent of missing a truck parked on your front lawn.”

 

I would never get lucky enough to have it drop all the way down... If yo did, you are one lucky mofo...

 

Goes straight to the pan.

 

I might be completely wrong here but isn't that a coolant passage? From what I can remember anyways. I tried to look through all my other pictures but can't find one that shows it well. Looks a little large to be an oil passage too.

Jason

 

Put a magnet somewhere on the bottom of the oil pan and forget about it.

 

Find out where it goes first, then decide if you want to leave it. It wouldn't be the biggest deal to drop the pan a bit. You can drop it a couple inches with the front diff in place.

 

I went "fishing" today. No luck retrieving the blade. This week I'll be dropping the diff. in order to drop the pan. I'd rather have plenty of space to clean and reseal the oil pan. And I'd rather not take any chances leaving it in there. Better safe than sorry. This will definitely be a lesson learned. Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

 

Next time when you work with small metal parts with your valve covers off, tie a LONG piece of fishing line to aforementioned small metal part. Thereby when (not if) small part does a swan dive into the first open passege to the block, you can always retreive it!