Hello,

I accidently dropped a washer in the spark plug hole. At first, I thought it went in the groves near the bottom intake plenum. I put everything back together and start the engine, and I hear this rattling noise inside my engine. So, I shut my engine off right away.

How am I suppose to remove this washer out now? Any suggestions. I took the plug out and put a magentic in but it ain't coming out. Is the washer still inside the same cylinder or could it have moved to another cylinder? I would appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

Do NOT start your engine until u get it out. I think u might need to pull the heads..we'll wait for someone more knowledgeable to chime in. Keep trying with the flexible magnetic rod thingy

 

hehe it won't move to anothe cylinder. If you are lucky, it didn't get wedged inbetween the valve/seat and you avoided bending a valve. It's still there abeit all dented up now. I'd take the plug back out and try fishing it out with the magnet/rod. That's probably your best chance at getting it out.

 

wow, hmm, hers what i personally would do.

get one of those magnetic pen things, its liek a radio antenna with a magnet on the end, make sure its a good one and will fit down the hole, then hope and prey it pick up the washer.

or is that what ur using??

btw, where did the washer come from in the 1st place??

 

You need to get a telescoping magnetic thingies...{}dont know what they are called]


stick it in the cylinder and the magnet on the end will get the washer..

 

Actually he probably needs one that he can bend so he can reach to the side of the piston area. Especially if the piston is TDC or close. If the piston is TDB, the above one should work as the angles are nearly as severe

Another idea is to make some type of adaptor to your vacuum cleaner. ie... neck the large opening down to something that will fit into the plug hole

 

Thanks for all your quick replies.

I am trying to fish it out with the magnetic pen you guys are taking about but with no luck. I was loosening one of those clamps on the hose and found that it has a small washer on the end. I hope I don't have to pull the head out for this. It will be too much work. I am going to try a vacuum to suck it out. I doubt it will work, but I am pretty desperate now.

 

It might help to get one of those lights on a stick and put it into the plughole so you can see the washer. Also try a little compressed air to blow it out of some corner where it's hiding and you can't see it, to someplace where you can get at it.

 

Oh those tiny washers? No big chance at damage. But harder to fish out because it's so small it can hide right up against the cylinder wall. You could try using a compressor and blowing it out. You might get lucky if you leave enough room for the washer to fly out around the nozzle.

You probably won't have to pull the head. If I can drill/tap a new spark plug hole in my VE head w/o pulling it, you should be able to get this out.

I actually ended up blobbing a bit of grease onto a bent end of a wire and fished out a ton of aluminum drill chips out of the cylinder. If the washer is tiny, it might stick onto a blob of grease this way also.

 

Yeah,just punch it up to about 7200rpm for a few minutes should get rid of the washer..

 

you might need to lower the piston some by rotating it by hand. The lower the piston the easier it will be for you to reach the sides of the piston with the magnet.

 

Okay, I duct taped a 3/4" pvc pipe on the tip of my vacuum nozzle and put it in the hole. But, it still would not come out. It seems like the piston is not too far down. The pipe does not go into deep. Also, it seems like the hole is pretty narrow (about 2 inches wide). I used some compressed air to try to blow it out but still no go.

If I wanted to lower the piston by hand, how would I do this?

 

I will try this now and see if this will work. Thanks.

 

Easiest way is to take all plugs out and put a big breaker bar on the crank nut and turn (while in neutral). Or maybe take the plugs out and push the car in gear. Won't take much

 

However you get it out, I would seriously recommend running a compression check after you get it out. You know, just in case you did screw up a valve in the process.

Maybe you should take MyGreenMax's advice and kick it up to redline for a few minutes. If it doesn't force it out, it might atleast melt it into the piston head. On the bright side, it would boost your compression...

 

dfshsj

 

Or rather less severely, leave the plug out of that cylinder and turn it over, it might get blown out the plug hole with the compression stroke.

 

Oh shat! i was just kidding with jeffy about the 7200rpm thing...


Just try to get it out of there before running it...

 

MrGone would rev it out, but MrGone is a driver not a thinker



Run out to the local shops or engine builders, see if one has one of those fiber optic lookie tool things, you know, like SWAT uses.

 

Obviously, I was kidding too. Do NOT run the engine until you get the washer out. I just couldn't come up with anything that hadn't already been suggested.

 

what do you know, you don't even own a maxima anymore

 

if you can see it... try and get one of those claw things

thats the first thing that popped into my head... can washers even be magnetized?

 

almost any metal can be magnetized. not while it's resting in a cylinder though.

 

I have been trying with the magnetic rod and the air compressor, but it is becoming hopeless. I think I may end up taking the head out. Thanks for all your ideas and replies.

 

Using some grease sounded like a good idea, one of those scopes would be handy so you could see it at least. Sounds like you'll have to pull the head though, that's a bummer man.

 

I bet the reason why the washer is not coming out with the telescoping magnet is that it is made of aluminum... Or perhaps plastic?

 

Not really. I took out another similar washer and tried with the magnet and it works.

 

What if it's not even in there and actually fell on the pavement and you didn't know it? That would be TERRIBLE!! Just kidding though...

 

:O!!!

When you first said run it at 7200rpm I thought to myself...WTF!!!!

 

Any luck max_pusher???

 

Well,

I have been pretty busy with work and have been taking parts out little by little. I am almost done taking the head apart. I removed the upper and lower intake manifolds, timing belt & covers, camshaft sprockets, and etc.

Today, I will probably take the injector rail out and pull the head out and see exactly where that washer fell in.

Where is a good place to pick up head and intake manifold gaskets other than the dealer?

 

where in LA are u? I used aftermarket corteco or something like that gaskets for intake manifold and plenum..so far so good. gaskets looked pretty decent quality too..definitely better than feelpro.

 

It sure would suck if you pulled all that crap off there and found no washer..

 

I am located in downtown LA, near Staples Center. How much do the aftermarket corteco go for and where can I find them.

I tried to pull the head bolts out today but am in confusion. I took all of them out except two of them, #10 and #11 bolt in the FSM. It seems that the rocker shafts are preventing the bolts to come out.

Do I need to remove the rocker shafts and arms? If I do, do I need to adjust them somehow when I install them?

 

Yes,you must remove the camshafts...

 

Corteco makes some pretty nice gaskets. when they are the actual manufacturer

 

Alright, I loosened the rocker shafts and took the rest of the head bolts out. I pulled the head out with the exhaust manifold. First, I took a look at the pistons and just found coolant inside of them. Then, I took a look at the bottom of the head and found a metal piece stuck to the head. That is probably why the magnetic rod did not work.

Everything looks good except I am not sure if the pistons are lined up correctly. I took the rear head out and found that #1 cylinder is up while #3 and #5 cylinders are down. Is this okay? I thought it should be up, down, up sequence or vice versa.

Also, when I put everything back together with new gaskets, do I need to put any silicon on the gaskets (head, intake manifold, etc.)?

 

the coolant got on the pistons when you pulled the head...probably not a leaky gasket (in case you were worried about that).

The alignment of the crank cant be changed so its right...dont worry about it. I cant remember the firing order of the VG to tell you where the pistons would be but like I said you cant mess up the piston alignment becuase you cant change the crank.