V8 TB, While cleaning the gasket, a Razor Blade fell behind water pump

[mastee]

So I was about to be done with cleaning the water pump mating surface when by some freak accident the blade slipped and fell behind the left side opening for the water pump. I cannot feel it anywhere with the tweezers. not sure how deep that area is.

I have one of those snake type cameras and going to stick it in tomorrow to see if I can see it, and perhaps fish it out with some magnet.

Does the coolant circulates with enough force to dislodge it and have it float through the system or will it just sink and stay put, supremely ****ed?

 

[radlynx]

This time, you need to start praying.

 

[mastee]

Well I could not wait until tomorrow and just got back from looking at that sucker with the camera, it is barely couple inches deep, its not out yet but I think it will be fish-able with a magnet. I will update what happens...

Will always stick a rag next time around, that was a first wtf moments of may wrenching career

 

[4Reak Show]

Luckily it's magnetic most likely. They make killer magnet tools that are on a stick sort of like a coat hanger but softer wire. Something to look into for retrieval. I certainly would not leave it there mostly for the idea of blocking a passage.

 

[mastee]

The blade is out, I used a thin neodymium magnetic bar about 4" long, I had also made a sort of fishing line with a small round one and floss but did not use it, it took not even 10 seconds until I heard the sweet click

A much smarter thing would have been to block the opening when removing the gasket material; to be honest it never occurred to me that it could happen, close call...

 

[NWTrailRunner]

Glad to hear you got it out!

I thought I might have done that with a broken off pieces of an allen wrench while trying to pry off the cam seals during a TB job. I believe those openings are where the coolant gets pushed through from the water pump, which means anything would have to go through the system all the way around before getting back to the water pump.

I never did find that piece, but I'm pretty sure it fell below the engine. My engine is running just fine, so I'm not going to lose anymore sleep over it.

 

[Terminator03]

The blade is out, I used a thin neodymium magnetic bar about 4" long, I had also made a sort of fishing line with a small round one and floss but did not use it, it took not even 10 seconds until I heard the sweet click

A much smarter thing would have been to block the opening when removing the gasket material; to be honest it never occurred to me that it could happen, close call...

Not only is plugging the hole beneficial for preventing tools dropping in, it also prevents gasket material from getting in there, which can get into moving parts and maybe cause problems or blockages later...

 

[mastee]

Glad to hear you got it out!

I thought I might have done that with a broken off pieces of an allen wrench while trying to pry off the cam seals during a TB job. I believe those openings are where the coolant gets pushed through from the water pump, which means anything would have to go through the system all the way around before getting back to the water pump.

I never did find that piece, but I'm pretty sure it fell below the engine. My engine is running just fine, so I'm not going to lose anymore sleep over it.[/QUOTE

I think an allen piece has such a small surface area to weight ratio that it may not float ever, but a blade sure would have floatedup and fugedup the pulley or blocked something else. The usb camera was super helpful, I had ordered it on fleabay a while ago, on the premonition of screwingup something-up like this. I can tell you from looking at the internals on my laptop that it is narrow but not deep there, it's all metal so a fishing line with a magnet would not work.

I put the wp with fpig, tensioner pulley back on, like to finish it this weekend...

I do have a quick question though, does the Tensioner Pulley moves back n forth when torqued but before the tensioner pin is pulled? Thx

 

[HanSolex]

This is like my worst nightmare. Afraid to go to sleep now.