atropine

So I was changing out the LH cam position sensor in my 94 LS400 and dropped one of the small bolts that holds the sensor in place. I am pretty sure it fell down into the lower timing belt cover somewhere. I am going to try to fish it out with a magnet, but if I am unsuccessful, do I have to pull the harmonic balancer to get rhe lower cover off?

deanshark

Yeah the pulley has to come off to get near that timing cover. It sucks b/c to get the bottom cover off ya need to remove alot, including the fan bracket and the serpentine belt tensioner. Actually, if you take off the pulley (harmonic balancer) you might be able to take out the bolts for that cover and just pry out the bottom some how but I'm really not sure. If you can do it make sure it seals good when you put it back, use gasket sealer if you need to. You don't want any dirt getting up in there. The fan would need to come off and take a look at step #11 and on with this, http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/timingbelt.html just to get an idea of how you can get in there without removing everything.
This is why I usually keep a magnet ON the bolts when I remove them. Years of experience. But it still happens to me once in a while. Good luck getting it out.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

Good advise Dean. I used to keep all my sockets and screwdrivers magnetized, the old fashion way. coil a piece of insulated wire around them, strip the ends and touch them to the battery terminals..... zap.... its done. Probably have some other way to do it now-a-days.... Ah--- memories.

jerryparks

iTrader: (1)

I bought a tool some time ago from the local tool store. It has a long inclosed wire rope and a claw on one end. It was relatively cheap to buy. It has saved me a lot of frustation many times.

atropine

Thx guys. Haven't been able to fish it out despite using 2 different magnet tools. Removed the lower crank sensor to see if there was any chance of it dropping down down into that hole, but no luck. Looks like I am gonna have to start dismantling... This sucks.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

its not that bad all you have to do is pull the serp belt, crank pulley, and the timing covers...

oh wait, that's pretty much a TB job, well guess you may as well get that out off the way

Raddison

Lifesaver!

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

Yep, I have one of those too, I use mine to clean out the Oil Control Valve chambers. just put a small piece of cloth in it, and run it up and down, changing cloths until it comes out clean..... very satisfying.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

shhh guys this could be the first preventative timing belt done in years for OPs car

deanshark

Yeah those "mechanic fingers" are a great tool but the problem here is there's no way of seeing the bolt. (or a magnet would work) What I don't understand is, if you're changing the cam sensor, you need to remove the distributor completelty off the engine and then remove the sensor from the distributor. But at this point you might as well do the T-belt/water pump job. I was looking at the T-belt pics again and it looks like the bolt, if it dropped down there, would have fallen on top of the crankshaft timing gear. (inside of timing belt) There's no way it can fall to the bottom of the lower timing cover, the idler pulley is in the way. It's either on the lower gear or right where the T-belt tensioner goes up through. Take another look at the pics and you'll see what I mean.

atropine

Well, job is complete. You were right, it couldn't fall all the way to the bottom of the cover. But I couldn't get a magnet bent own into the spot where it fell from the top. Job didn't turn out all that miserable. I just had to pull the fan/ fan clutch, the radiator (couldn't get the impact wrench in there without the radiator coming out) the serp belt, and the harmonic balancer. Then the lower cover came off easily and the missing screw dropped out in my hand. Not sure exactly where it was in the end because it fell out on the ground, but it wasn't sitting in the bottom of the timing belt cover. Got everything reinstalled and all is well. I was thinking about doing the timing belt, but I just didn't feel like going to the extra effort at this time of year. It is so hot here this week that I wanted out of the garage asap. Now that I have done it once I could tear it down to that level again quickly.

I didn't really think about taking out the distributor to change out the sensor. That makes more sense. I was wondering how those crazy Japanese expected me to change out the sensor in that awkward position, but I got it done with a little ingenuity and a little lost flesh. What a learning experience.

Thx again everyone.

deanshark

This is why before doing any job on my car, even if I did it 100 times, I read the manual. Even if something seems easy, there might be an easier and better way to do it. Glad to hear ya found it and it came out. It sure wouldn't have been good if you couldn't find it and it was bouncing around in there.
So, are you saying you got the lower timing cover off without taking off the fan bracket and serp belt tensioner? Those sit on top of the timing cover. If you didn't take those off that's , saved yourself alot of work. I hope your timing belt is good and it doesn't snap soon, after having everything off and not changing it.

atropine

Yes, I did not have to take off the serp belt tensioner and the fan bracket. The lower cover was flexible enough to easily pull out with just a little bending and went back in just as easy. Saved a load of time. That's part of what led me to not do the timing belt while I was in there, because it would have been a lot more work in the 112 degree heat. The t-belt looks great right now, and since it is a non-interference engine and not even my primary car, it is worth the risk to wait until winter to do the t-belt.

dashan

Give the car some atropine and it might dilate some holes in the car like it dilating the pupil, so the bolt will drop out.
just some joking.
Glad to see you get the bolt out.

deanshark

NON-interference Why spend money when you don't have to, right? Especially that much money, and much more time. That's good that you didn't need to take off all that extra stuff to get the cover off. Just, hopefully you didn't disfigure that timing cover by bending it b/c if you did then you're gonna get dirt and grime up into the T-belt which will eventually cause problems. If it's not sealed tight just throw some gasket sealer on it to seal it up. It's working good on my timing covers. No way was I gonna spend over $100 for all the gaskets when a $5 tube of sealer works even better.