I took off my timing cover and when i did a small piece of gasket fell into the front of my oil pan. i was unable to get it out and while trying i just pushed it in further to where i cant get it. should i drop my oil pan and try to get it out right away, or can i wait until the next time i pull my motor? will it block any oil passages or anything like that? thanks
piece of gasket in my oil pan
- Thread starter bleeatch
- Start date
OL' WHITEY
New Member
You could try flushing it out the drain hole by pouring motor oil in and draining it into a screen to make sure you got it. If that didn't work, I think I'd pull the pan. 
Michael Yount
Mustang Master
Have you tried draining the front sump of oil to see if that allows you to find/remove the piece? Dropping the pan is a MAJOR undertaking. I don't think anyone can tell you whether it will cause a problem or not. The oil pickup is in the rear sump. I suppose it's possible for the gasket piece to get to the rear sump and partially clog the pickup. Is it likely? Who knows. Wish I could be more helpful. Seems like with a flashlight and various devices to reach into the front sump, you should be able to fish it out.
I'd say "screw it" if it was small enough to get down in there then it's not large enough to cause any significant amount of restriction even it does get plastered against the pickup screen and it's too large to through the screen. Even with that my bet is that it'll never see the screen. Most likely it'll sit in the bottom of your oil pan until the day that you do drop it.
Dude man get that **** out of there. The owner of my car was changing the oil pan gasket and a piece of the gasket feel out and in to the pan. I guess he didnt realize it. So then after i bought it the peice ended up getting stuck in the pick up tube, and caused the oil pump to heat up. Eventually the oil pump heated up enough that the pump froze and the shaft that powers the pump broke. need less to say that i was driving down the road and i looked at my pressure and it was at zero. I wouldnt drive any more then you have to, because alot can go wrong. If you have to take it somewhere but i wouldnt chance driving it around. Just my .02.
That Oil Pan is not coming off without pulling the engine. All the pickup tubes come with screens to protect the pump from damage by debris. Anything larger than a grain of sand will get stopped by the screen. The screen is about 3+ inches in diameter but is covered by a shield with a slot. It is pretty hard to get a something large enough to even affect the pumps discharge pressure.
Up to 93 Mustangs have a oil pressure gauge (no exact marking however) that will give some indications of a problem.
On 94 and later mustangs the gauge is activated by a switch and not a sender at all. It closes at a very low pressure and moves the needle to the center of the range.
Up to 93 Mustangs have a oil pressure gauge (no exact marking however) that will give some indications of a problem.
On 94 and later mustangs the gauge is activated by a switch and not a sender at all. It closes at a very low pressure and moves the needle to the center of the range.
Michael Yount
Mustang Master
Good info Lyle - especially this piece - "On 94 and later mustangs the gauge is activated by a switch and not a sender at all. It closes at a very low pressure and moves the needle to the center of the range." Quality is Job 1.
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