Long story short. Was working on my brother truck did the right vct, went to do the left and (2) torx bits fell in. Obv there was a lot more going on here but thats the skinny.

So in short how the heck can we get them out? To me it looks like the only way to go about it is to remove the valve cover....but in the same breath if it followed the chain down this could turn into an extremely large project


Its the drivers side back we're talking about....any constructive help is much appreciated..thanks in advance

Edit; its a 04 f150 3v 5.4

 

yeah at minimum you will need to remove the valve cover. Then go from there. Were you replacing the sensors or the phasers? Cause if you were doing the phasers you'd need to pull the valve covers anyways. However if they fell down inside the timing chain it would probably be best to just go ahead and remove the drive belt and pullies then remove the timing chain cover. Which gives you the perfect opportunity to inspect and replace the chain guides if need be. Not to mention address any other issues that might be on the verge of popping up.

 

no just the sensors. Id assume a new valve cover gasket would be needed once its off. I read something about the egr valve getting in the way of the drivers side valve cover can anyone shed some light on that?

 

To my knowledge, there is no EGR on this series truck. The driver's side valve cover is the easier of the two to remove. The AC lines, ECM, tranny dipstick, (along with wires and other hoses) get in the way on the pass. side. Can you see the torx bits at all? Maybe you can get to them with a magnet?

 

Correct, with the variable valve timing, there is no EGR on these engines. I'll second trying a telescoping magnet to get the bits out. FYI, this is exactly why you use a Torx screwdriver and not a Torx bit and socket driver.

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Yep, live an you learn right. We got a autel scope and took the valve cover off and managed to get one of the bits out witha magnet. The other though slipped and made its way down to no mans land.

we followed the chain with the scope to see if it was caught up somewhere but its not so we are thinking of just firing her up and seeing what happens.

I would think it would just sit in the bottom of the timing gear cover and slosh around the oil, but I am no expert with these 5.4s

If the engine does happen to grenade its not the biggest loss, it has about 260kms and it runs rough and throws a few codes. Maybe low comp but we havent checked each cylinder yet

 

Drain your oil and check for it...it could have easily made it's way to the pan if it dropped down in that far.