tool disappeared into engine bay.

[teigan]

i dropped part of a screwdriver (working end minus handle) into the left/front of the engine bay where the v belts reside. was trying to revamp the heater hose setup, working from above right against the firewall, trying to undo hoseclamps which were at an odd angle.

well i've searched hours for the wayward tool, and it is hiding somewhere nonvisible. i'm also afraid to run the engine without finding it. i removed 3 belts, that triangular brace, and the coolant hose/thermostat, but i still can't seem to see the shiny tool. can anyone suggest what else to remove next, or perhaps the usual hiding place for dropped items? thanks.

[wedg1e]

Stuck behind the trailing arm mount heat shield? How about dropped into the centre box of the chassis?

[Dr.Hess]

I dropped a socket down there once. I think it was a 15 or 17. I looked for about 2 hours. Finally found it hiding underneath one of the hoses at the bottom of the engine compartment. I swear the faries were f'ing with me.

Dr.Hess

[GreenV8S]

Try a flexi magnetic probe, very handy for locating lost steel bits and pieces out of sight.

[greezmunky]

while installing new ignition coils i dropped probably 2 dozen washers, nuts and bolts in every crevice imaginable on that part of the car. I got what I could find but for the next 3 days my car was shedding random fasteners all around my neighborhood. Nowadays i just use a couple of magnetic mats and lay the in areas things might fall. The mats are used in OR's for laying surgical instruments on a round belly.

[Esprit2]

teigan said:

i dropped part of a screwdriver (working end minus handle) into the left/front of the engine bay where the v belts reside. (Snip)...

Did it's fall end with a metallic clank, or more of a fiberglass thunk? Parts dropped from that area usually land in the crotch of the chassis fork. There's a sheetmetal gusset between the bottom of the transition area between the backbone and the tubular portion of the chassis. More often than not, bits n pieces end up there... all the way forward... under a hose... in a corner.

Is the undertray still on?
If it fell down through the chassis (through the middle, between the tube legs) then there's a chance it made it out of the middle opening in that sheetmetal panel and landed on the undertray... a slim chance since the hole in the undertray pretty much aligns with the first hole.

If it fell to the outside of the chassis... between the chassis and the body, then it's probably sitting on the undertray. It could also be sitting on top of the suspension trailing arm, resilient mount, engine mount or heat shield. But from the starting point you described, that sounds unlikely.

There's a narrow shelf of chassis-top sticking out beyond the firewall. Similarly, there's a fiberglass lip running across the front of the engine bay immediately above the chassis. Between the two of them, they can catch a tool once in a while. It's a smaller target so the probability is correspondingly smaller.

Beyond that, you're sorta down to the engine nooks and crannies.

Good luck,
Tim Engel

>> Edited by Esprit2 on Wednesday 22 February 01:45

[teigan]

thanks everyone. i'll keep looking. kind of avoiding the job for now, since it's tedious. a lot of smart suggestions from you all though.

[zhastaph]

Seems like you're in good company, I've done that exact thing myself with a small ratchet.

Took bloody ages to find it!!!!! Sadly it was such a long time ago I cant rememeber exactly where it had got caught

Good luck

[Robert87hci]

Get a pivoting mirror and a good flashlight. A nice small led light works for those hard to get in places. I had a screwdriver bit fall out of the tip and found it on top of the A/C compressor.
Good Luck

[Autocross7]

There are a couple places that tools like to go down into on my car. Like you, lost a couple for a week once, but once I figured out the physics of the fall so to speak... I look there first now and almost always find the tool...

Spots to look in the order I look...
1) The little lip that runs the width of the engine bay in front of the motor causes some interesting bounces... but look in the lip just the same. It will hide a socket or a driver easily.

2) just below the airpump on the left and the AC compressor on the right, there is a bit of a shelf created by the under body. I have actually had to put my head up into this area before actually seeing the lost tool. The tube shapes meet the flat shapes only on the very bottom - so tools can actually slide under and hide... (not very technical, but trying to get the shape of these areas accross)

3)Heat sheilding near the air pump for sure. Best seen from above... not easy on the back.

4) Do not ask me how, but on more than one occasion a tool has dropped straight down from near the front of my alternator and bounced its way around to getting lodged between the AC compressor and the body? IE: it fell "backwards"... will not hurt to check there...

Good luck.
Drive topless!!!
Cameron

[marco247]

Mine went under the plenum chamber and was found about a year later

[teigan]

found it. mine bounced backward too. had to remove the vacuum pump to see it. oh well. now to figure out if i can source thinner wall heater hoses. the stainless steel ones look a bargain, but i'm not sure they turn a tight corner too well. thanks everyone for the advice. i used all of it.