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Help! I dropped a socket into my engine!
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Moleculo
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:30 pm    Post subject: Help! I dropped a socket into my engine! Reply with quote

So.... New bus owner, new to mechnanical work... I was all excited to have just done my first oil change ever, and proceeded on to changing the plugs and wires with great excitement.

But while changing my spark plugs and wires, and while changing the plug closest to the passenger-side-rear of the engine... the plug socket on my ratchet fell off the ratchet and down the hole.

Quickly grabbed my telescoping magnet tool to try and get it out, and gave it a good 20 minutes with no luck. Any advice??? Please for the love of Homer Simpson tell me I don't have to dismantle my engine or something....

-Kevin
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James Taylor
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The plug socket is obviously bigger than the hole the plug came out of so it is not in the motor. Rolling Eyes
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BUSLUVR42
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Umm... what hole?
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JR_76BayMicro
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

G'day Kevin , yup I did the same thing a while ago , the socket stayed in there ( under the tin ware ) until the engine was dropped to fix a valve guide issue ( maybe a few years ? ) , my Mech handed it to me when I picked up the Bus , I had toatally forgotten about it , to the best of my knowledge it didn't cause any problems in the interim .

JR
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PikaPikaBus
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You try using a long magnet or something?
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airkooledchris
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yea, no big deal probably.

buy a new intake runner gasket, and just take off enough stuff on that side of the motor to pull the intake runner and then the tin off of the top.

I think it's easier on the 3/4 side than the 1/2 side, but only because ive only removed just the tin (without dropping the motor) on that side. good opportunity to install a head temp sensor while it's out.

or, get your little mirror on a stick and a flashlight, figure out where it is, then get your magnet back in there and fish it out. shouldn't be too crazy unless it's really pushed/wedged up into a corner or something...
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SGKent Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

probably not - best thing you can get is these. Sometimes with a small mirror and a light you can find it too. Also - you probably need a magnet like this:

KD flexible magnet

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


digital inspection camera

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my59
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Only 20 mins?
Much to my embarassment I managed to do the same thing when I went to look at the bus I now own.
The owner, his dad and I spent about an hour taking turns trying to fish the socket out. We could see it but moving it was a problem. Tried a magnet on a bendy shaft, a stick with a wad of duct tape on the end and ended up using a coat hanger with a little hook on the end, forced to to fit thru the 3/8" end of the socket.
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Zeen
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 9:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Based on two out of two buses I have owned, you want to drop the motor and/or take off the tin to clean out all the crap that has accumulated over the years. The socket by itself is no big deal, but maybe it provides the motivation to get in there and clean things up so your engine will cool properly.

Check out the spark plug that was blocking airflow in my current bus for God knows how long.

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Wildthings
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Zeen wrote:
Based on two out of two buses I have owned, you want to drop the motor and/or take off the tin to clean out all the crap that has accumulated over the years. The socket by itself is no big deal, but maybe it provides the motivation to get in there and clean things up so your engine will cool properly.

Check out the spark plug that was blocking airflow in my current bus for God knows how long.


I have wondered how necessary it actually is to have air flow over the cylinders. I have certainly seen some engines that had close to zero. Maybe the heads run cooler once the airflow over the cylinders approaches zero. Confused
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Fullerton'71
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That picture freaks me out. Now I am going to have nightmares of all the things I have probably dropped in my engine. Sad
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RatCamper
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How does a spark plug end up there? I've lost spark plugs, sockets and other miscellanea into the holes, but they never went that way.

One thing to be wary of. Sometimes stainless steel can seem like a good idea until you drop it somewhere that you need a magnet to retrieve it.
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nodrenim
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 5:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't have a pic to post of a tool that I have handy when ever I change my plugs. It works like a choke cable, is about 30" long and has a button on one end you push and four prongs that come out the other end. Push the button the prongs come out, release the button, the prongs close, hopefully around the lost object. It has retrieved more than spark plugs, believe me, I wouldn't be without it.
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BryanM
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 6:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wildthings wrote:
Zeen wrote:
Based on two out of two buses I have owned, you want to drop the motor and/or take off the tin to clean out all the crap that has accumulated over the years. The socket by itself is no big deal, but maybe it provides the motivation to get in there and clean things up so your engine will cool properly.

Check out the spark plug that was blocking airflow in my current bus for God knows how long.


I have wondered how necessary it actually is to have air flow over the cylinders. I have certainly seen some engines that had close to zero. Maybe the heads run cooler once the airflow over the cylinders approaches zero. Confused


uhh.... its pretty necessary.......



If the bus has sat for a while it is also a good idea to check the oil cooler for blockage, consider removing all the tin and giving the long block a good scrub down.
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3nero
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nodrenim wrote:
I don't have a pic to post of a tool that I have handy when ever I change my plugs. It works like a choke cable, is about 30" long and has a button on one end you push and four prongs that come out the other end. Push the button the prongs come out, release the button, the prongs close, hopefully around the lost object. It has retrieved more than spark plugs, believe me, I wouldn't be without it.


A pickle picker is what you are describing there....

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


like that only with a bendy shaft.

I used one when my socket ended up in that black hole. I managed to put the prongs through the hole in the middle of the socket and then extend them out inside the hole.
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MOX
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i dropped the socket while changes plugs a few months ago, not big deal, it is not "in your engine" it is in between the engine tin and the engine....i got mine out after 15 minutes, hust keep poking,pulling wiggling Laughing
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Bart Dunn
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00941322000P

This is the tool no one should be without.
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Wildthings
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BryanM wrote:
Wildthings wrote:
Zeen wrote:
Based on two out of two buses I have owned, you want to drop the motor and/or take off the tin to clean out all the crap that has accumulated over the years. The socket by itself is no big deal, but maybe it provides the motivation to get in there and clean things up so your engine will cool properly.

Check out the spark plug that was blocking airflow in my current bus for God knows how long.


I have wondered how necessary it actually is to have air flow over the cylinders. I have certainly seen some engines that had close to zero. Maybe the heads run cooler once the airflow over the cylinders approaches zero. Confused


uhh.... its pretty necessary.......


You are missing the point. Many of these engines seem to run a long time even with the bottom two inches of fins gets completely clogged and the rest somewhat clogged, if it where really doing that much damage you would think that having the fins blocked would kill the engine on its first long climb.

I am not recommending this, just saying its very common.
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MOX
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

the socket won't do anything. the fins dissipate heat, more surface area for heat to escape. yes fresh air traveling past will help cool, but a socket siting on them won't cause you any problems.
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busdaddy
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

MOX wrote:
the socket won't do anything. the fins dissipate heat, more surface area for heat to escape. yes fresh air traveling past will help cool, but a socket siting on them won't cause you any problems.

I agree if it's on the cylinders, but if it's sitting on the oil cooler it'll wear through and eventually cause a leak.

Interesting theory on the clogged fins WT, sounds plausible but I still prefer a clean cooling system.
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