Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
I believe a nail may have fallen into the lifter valley of my 427 engine. I pulled the intake manifold, but didn't see a nail. I then pulled the oil pan, and again, no nail. The nail would have been about 1 1/2 inches long and I don't know how to proceed from here. I've checked the floor many times, but it's not there either. Do I dare try turning the engine over by hand and would this accomplish anything? I've felt all around the crank and connecting rods but it's pretty tight in there. I thought maybe compressed air blown around and through every opening in the engine might dislodge it if it is indeed stuck somewhere, but that could blow it somewhere and I might not see where it went. Magnets are useless because of all the iron. Help!!!
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
Hi Bob a little more info, is the motor in the car, why do think its in there, how could it get in there with intake on, what were you doing to the motor, how much do you know about motors etc etc Phil 8063 -
Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
Don't really have anything to add on the engine side of this but if you still can't find it and want to thoroughly re-check the floor see if can beg, borrow, or steal one of those magnets that a roofer drags through the grass to pick up rogue nails after stripping off an old roof. I had to resort to one a few years back to find a small but irreplaceable component I dropped on my shop floor when I was doing a non car project. I keep my workshop reasonably clean and neat but I dragged the magnet over every square inch of floor and not only found the part but also came up with a couple of additional tiny washers and nuts that had disappeared during the course of things over the years.Golf is for those who can't play hockey.Comment
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
I thought I had dropped a valve cover bolt into my engine once. I dropped the pan and used a borescope to inspect the entire engine to include the combusion chambers with no luck. The next day I found it on top of the head underneath a guide plate. It could only be seen from just the perfect angle. It is frustrating I know. I hope you find it soon.Comment
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
I was lowering the intake manifold onto the engine in the car when one corner of the front end gasket began to slip inside the engine. I grabbed a nail to try to pull it back in place and very quickly the nail had pulled out of my fingers and disappeared. I'm 99% certain the nail went inside the engine. To complicate matters, I've had the roof and siding done in the last few years and there are stray nails that still show up all over the garage, but I believe I would recognize this nail if I saw it.
Fortunately the valve covers were on and I think I may try a shop vac to try to reach into places I can't see. The engine was run last summer after I spent half the year working on a carburetor problem.Comment
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
Bob
My very first car a 396 68 chevelle needed a carburator when i bought it. me John and 12 beers got the job done. when we started the car all was fine a day later she blew up. when we dismantled engine we found a carbuator base screw in one of the cylinders and a cracked piston. ( screw was missing off of old carb) Lesson learned i dont change carburators any more. i would pull heads if i were you.
BillComment
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
Engine gurus can correct me if I'm wrong, but pretty much any hole in the lifter valley drains oil back to the pan. If the nail is not in the valley (check all the "angles" carefully), then it's probably in one of those drain holes or the pan; clearances are too tight otherwise for it to go down anywhere else.
In my opinion, using a shop vac to try and retrieve a nail from one of those drain holes will be a futile effort; the strength of the vaccum depends on how well you can seal the hose outlet to the location. If you don't suck up the nail, you certainly will make a big oily mess.
You need a strong magnet on a stiff, steel flex cable that's small enough in diameter to fit through those drain holes. If you can't find it the easy way, then like Jephrey said, gird up thy loins and drop the pan. It's a hard lesson, but not likely one to ever be forgotten.
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
I think I'd use it as an excuse to buy a proper borescope. I've always wanted one. Of course its not the kind of thing you can pick up at a local Sears or Home Depot. (Well they have those inspection scopes, but those aren't sized to peer into a spark plug hole.) But isn't every project or problem just an excuse to buy a new tool?
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
Not likely to have gotten into the cylinders, and in the valley will not likely cause any problems if its there.Comment
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
Well, here it is. I used a shop vac with a small rubber hose and pushed it through the front lifter valley openings several times and moved the hose back and forth. After about 10 minutes of trying I stopped and then looked on the floor and there it was. Thanks everyone for your assistance.Last edited by Robert G.; April 23, 2010, 02:05 PM.Comment
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
OK. Thinking out-loud here. I would be brainstorming to come up with some fluid that I could pour down the valley and try to wash it out. A large shallow pan of sorts under the reciprocating to catch the fluid and hopefully the nail. As of right now I have no suggestions for a fluid, except maybe diesel fuel?Comment
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
Whew! Bet you can sleep tonight.Comment
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
Bob, a nice end to that story, now make sure you clean clean clean all the places the gaskets go, I use thinner then 901. Phil 8063Comment
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Re: Engine Nightmare-need suggestions
I was going to suggest the borescope (even the cheap ones I've seen can get into a spark plug hole). I have one that I used to inspect frame damage and more importantly, how some unscrupulous people try to mask it. I bought one car with out checking the small holes and got burned. Since I have turned down several cars with bondo frames.
Back to your issue... did you poke the nail out of hiding and not suck it up???Comment
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