I was replacing the fuel transfer pump today, and as I was working off one of the hoses, I heard that sickening clatter of a hose clamp that fell down past the camshaft into the crankcase.

So am I screwed or what? Is that an open area where it would fall down into the oil pan where I might be able to get it out?

 

DO NOT START IT! To pull the pan down you have to pull the motor out (so I have been told).
Hopefully it fell to the oil pan. What I would do is drain the oil and put a HEAVY magnet on the bottom of the oil pan and start dragging in around and back to the oil plug hole. If you don't see it you may wanna spin it slowly by hand and listen for it hit the bottom. When you will see it and get a hold of it with some needle nosed pliers and pull that baby back through the hole. If you see it and cannot pull it through I would just drag the magnet off to the side and leave it.

 

If that hose clamp is stainless steel, I think it is unlikely that a magnet will pull it. I think it depends on the alloy, but most stainless is non-magnetic, IIRC.
Unfortunately, I don't have any better ideas for you. Hope the magnet works!!!

 

If it made its way to the bottom of the pan I would expect it will stay there , If it sitting on the baffle , you may be able to get to from the dipstick flange hole ..Can you see it looking through the pump opening?...

 

I dropped an allen wrench in my motor somewhere (I am almost sure anyway) when I was doing my injectors. Know approximately where it should have went, never found it after 2 days of looking and running a magnet all over. Wherever it is it is cause it runs fine with no clank clank around. I'd say if it went to the pan it won't hurt anything but you can try to get it out if you can.

 

your good id say, my lifter pinh fell out of my fuel pump and fell on top of the crank, i just rated the motor a few times BY HAND and it fell into the abyss. i put a 90lb magnet on the bottom of the pan jsut for security but id take it off and not worry about it. ive been driving like that since january and that was about 8000 miles. what exactly fell into your pan?

 

Well, I got lucky. I took a chance and started it and there was no clattering and the motor didn't come unglued. Had it been someone else, my reaction would have been the same as CopeDawgs, don't start it. But as this is my only means of transportation other than my motorcycle, I decided to risk it. A big risk, I know, and I wouldn't chafe at being called foolish, either.

What really sucks is I still have the leak. When am I going to learn to just fix the easy stuff first (hoses) instead of diving right in and replacing a part that doesn't need to be replaced? >>Sigh<< Well, it's not going to break me, and I didn't have to turn in the original pump for core, so I guess it's just lesson learned and call it a day.

Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can pin down that leak. I replaced the transfer pump hoses, but there are a couple of other hoses that could be leaking, or perhaps the filter housing.

Gotta replace the thermostat, too, I've been putting that off for too long. Found an HID light kit online and if I have time I'll install that, too. Hopefully it works ok, or it's another lesson learned. I think I'll keep the conventional bulbs handy just in case.

 

Forgot to answer a few of the posts. It was a small hose clamp that fell in. Most of it is stainless, but I think the screw is not and is magnetic. My oil plug has a very strong magnet on it.

I can't see it through the pump opening. I can see the cam and I was able to put a flexible-head magnet in there and fish around for a few inches. Wasn't able to come out with anything, though.

I'm still somewhat concerned that it might be sitting somewhere and a good bump in the road or something might toss it into the rotating assembly and cause a meltdown. On the other hand, this motor is somewhat tired, although it still runs well and strong. However, there's a good amount of blowby and I think it'll be due for a rebuild in the next few years. It has 235,000 on it now. The timing would be bad, but I could pick up a new motor or a good short block and drop it in.

Oh, I just thought of something else, but I'll create a new post for that since it would be off-topic.

 

slam a healthy set of injectors, mabe some 160/30% injectors and have a STRONG running motor