Well here's the deal, I pulled my passenger side head of my 3.0 today. I was removing the head bolt closest to the firewall and the stepstool i was standing on slipped. Well you know that washer? Yeah it slipped off the bolt and fell right down the hole that returns oil back to the case. Any ideas or wisdom guys?

 

pen magnet

 

1 tried that....the passage is quite small

 

Drop the pan?

 

the pen magnet i have is as big as a stereo antenna. its smaller than that? then how'd the washer get in there? lol

 

i was gonna suggest that next

 

Drop pan or get a good piece of fishing line and get a very small magnet. it will fetch it right out.

 

Yeah, fishing line/fine string and a magnet. good luck

 

The block is magnetic, a magnet on a string will just stick to the sides of the passage. Try the telescopic magnet.

 

The magnet would not fit through the passage...it is about two washer widths. I am trying to avoid dropping the pan

 

Uh magnets that ya get usually are shielded so you can out them down into the engine. THey wont stick to anything but what the tip touches..

 

If you can't get it out you should pull the pan.

A tech at the dealership I used to work at droped a nut in the crankcase and when he started the engine the crank shoved it through the main bearing girdle and tore the bottom end up.

Depending on where it lands it may or may not cause big problems.

 

Pulling the pan is gonna save you a lot more time than if you leave it in there...