I feel like such an Idiot! Help me not make another big mistake! Please!

Davin

Founding Member
Mar 9, 2000
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Jacksonville, FL
Okay, so I had a little valve train noise so I pulled the upper intake and valve covers to investigate. Only problem is that I neglected to remove a couple washers off the upper intake and they "disappeared"! I Found one but not the other..thought I heard it clink down the long tubes but I’m not sure. Could it have gone down the intake manifold?!?!? I hope not, I really didn‘t think so. I reached down the lower intake with a magnet and couldn’t find anything.

I assumed that everything was fine. When I went to manually turning the engine, I discovered that I could only turn it from the point before cylinder 1 hit TDC and then backward (dizzy clockwise) till just before 6 hit TDC (which would actually be AFTER it hit TDC in the power stroke since I was working backward). I tried reaching in the spark plug ports with wire and magnets but I wasn’t able to find any sign of a washer in any of the cylinders. My thoughts were that the main ones would be 1 and 6 since that is where the sticking was. After a bit of fishing, all of a sudden everything worked fine, no sticking. I’d like to think it was a fluke but the sticking points were very solid…my only guess is that the washer fell in and was sideways in the cylinder and then fell over flat so that the engine could turn….but again and again I tried raising the cylinder and reaching in the spark port with wire and magnets and couldn’t find anything. I would think if the washer was in there it would fall b/c of gravity but no sign.

I really don’t want to have to pull the lower intake and heads cause its so much work but I don’t want my engine to blow apart either. What should I do? Are there any options I’m missing?:bang:
 
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There is a device that you can use to poke into a spark plug hole and see what's in there. (I can't remeber what it's called. I want to say "endoscope" but, I'm not sure. Maybe it's just called a "borescope".) You can do a visual inspection to be sure that 1) each cylinder is clear and 2) which one needs a washer removed. You could prolly go in through the valve opening and pull it back through from there, once you KNOW what you are dealing with. (Prolly won't fit through the SP hole.)

Mac and Snap-On sell them. Get out the petroleum jelly.
 
Its called a borescope and theyre rather expensive to buy for a single use though a lot cheaper than possible engine damage. Unless you want to get it towed and have a shop do it Id suggest you start rippin and tearin and get it done yourself. If it was hung up on a valve and then fell in the combustion chamber youll never fish it out andll prob spend more time fartin around then it would take to do it right.
 
Did you have the spark plugs out when you turned the motor over...if not could you have run into compression on a cylinder (when you felt the tight spot)? Did you have the serp. belt off (maybe resistance from there)? Double and triple check the area where you worked to see if you can account for every washer....:shrug: Bring every cylinder up to TDC one at a time and check each spark plug hole with some sort of small magnet...you could try wrapping a small magnet in some stiff solid core wire and rummage thru each spark plug hole:shrug: That really sux....when I was doing my cam swap that was the first thing on my mind all the time...prolly one of my biggest fears. Worst come to worst yuo could take off the lower manifold to "make sure" its not hung up on a valve as that doesnt require taking the heads off. That and try the spark plug holes...if nothing turns up you should be ok.
 
Definitely a crappy situation. When I was pulling apart my motor any access hole was either masked off or covered with a shop towel. My only worry with clearing it for start up without pulling the heads is that its very easy for it to be out of sight. Id wanna be real sure cuz you only get one shot. Once you hear that horrible noise its too late. Then the 4 or 5 hours you thought you saved are moot because you have to pull them now and spend money on repairs.
 
go-stang5.0
Did you have the spark plugs out when you turned the motor over...if not could you have run into compression on a cylinder (when you felt the tight spot)? Did you have the serp. belt off (maybe resistance from there)? Double and triple check the area where you worked to see if you can account for every washer.... Bring every cylinder up to TDC one at a time and check each spark plug hole with some sort of small magnet...you could try wrapping a small magnet in some stiff solid core wire and rummage thru each spark plug hole That really sux....

Worst come to worst yuo could take off the lower manifold to "make sure" its not hung up on a valve as that doesnt require taking the heads off. That and try the spark plug holes...if nothing turns up you should be ok.

What do you mean "its not hung up on a vlalve"?

Plugs were in the holes but only about 2 threads in..definitly felt like a solid obstruction though, serp was off. One washer definitly missing. The thing that messes with me though is that I'm pretty sure that if something is in there, it would be in 1 or 6 since they are the cylinders that stuck before reaching TDC, but with all the fishing I've done with wire and magnets in the spark plug hole, I can't find ANY sign of anything there. If I could, I would feel alot better about tearing it apart. :bang:
 
yep, it turns freely now. I've turned the engine many times and run a magnet and wire through the spark plug holes at TDC and I can't find anything but I'm sure something was keeping it from turning earlier. Is there any chance that a sticky valve could have been the culprit? The agonizing thing is that I can't find any sign of what was causing the thing to stick but it was there. Are there any other viable theories for why it wouldn't turn before? Like a sticky valve?