Rock in Motor- Portland Area - Need Advise
 

New to the forum. Have searched a lot but just decided to sign up because i need advice from y'all who know this motor before i spend the $$ for the fix.

Long story short went to change my oil Friday. Somehow a rock got in the funnel as i was transferring it to the oil filler and it went right in. So I had the rock sitting on top of the camshaft timing intake gear (if i would have known prior about the camshaft oil control valve i could have got it). Ended up pushing the rock down next to the timing exhaust gear below. Tried removing it through control valve with no luck. It is currently sitting right below the pulley. Between the pulley and the case i would say. Pretty tough angle to get between to scoop it out with anything.

I would say i am at the point where i gotta break that case open. Not totally sure what that entails. Going to call around later today to get some quotes. If anyone on here knows a shop in the Portland/Gresham area that is familar with FA20's so i could get an accurate quote that would be appriciated!

Weather or not its going to be spendy will be the deciding factor if i take on this project myself or not. Ive got a couple buddies that know motors pretty well but not the FA20 in particular. It would be nice to get input from someone on here that knows the motor real well.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Kody

This post had me like WTF several times, good luck with your very weird issue

Maybe a mobile mechanic may have a vacuum device to suck it out. or tape a small tube to your vacuum cleaner and suck it out

That is actually outside the box thinking and may just work, just make sure the tube is big enough to suck the rock in :)

I like the vacuum idea.

Tried the vacuum method with no luck. I think it was jammed between the timing gear and the case. Couldnt get it to budge until it fell lower :sigh:

I guess fa20 is rock solid ?

I'm a bit confused as to where the rock is at the present time.......??

Is it on the inside or outside the engine block .. ??

Can you see it ..??


humfrz

Humfrz coming in hot with the 1800s method to get this fixed (I'll be taking bets)




I personally says he goes with a tree branch with a piece of gum attached to it :)




From what I gather humfrz it's inside the block at this time

Yea it is in the timing chain/belt cover between the pulley and case.

My money is on the ol' flip it upside down and shake it trick

do you have a grabber tool? I have this cable grabber tool where you pull on the top cable to extend and close the claws. you can probably find one similar at a car parts store. if you can see the rock, you can probably grab it with that tool

dammm i cant imagine myself see rock goes into engine. hope you get that sucker out!

If vacuum cleaner method doesn't work, try automotive flex tool grabber. I think you can get it from your local auto tools shop.
http://priuschat.com/attachments/gra...ool-jpg.73231/

Not sure how you are gona grab a rock if you can't see it but how did it get into the funnel? A rock?

Well now @Gbaby86 ......... welcome to posting to ye ol forum ....... :clap:

A "rock" inside the engine is a new one on us (as far as I recall).

@steve99 , @ryoma have a couple of good ideas there (if you can see it).

Since @fumanchu1 and @go_a_way1 done used a couple of my back-in-the-day ideas ........:slap: ......... I'll have to think on this fer ah spell.

hmmmmm........no good ideas from the old days. Back then. if it were a OHV engine, we would have simple taken off the valve cover and picked the rock out; a flathead, we would have just it lie in the bottom of the oil pan.

IF you can see it, the vac or grabber tool would be my weapon of choice.

IF you can see it and can get a rod to it ...... the redneck way would be to smash it to bits (and not worry about the bits).

If it has fallen to the bottom of the cam chain cover, I'd be tempted to just leave it there. There appears to be enough room down there for it to co-exist with the moving parts.

Sort of like a kidney stone, if it just stays put ..... there is no problem ..... but if it moves, it can cause you great pain.


humfrz

Thanks for the welcome! Great pic humfrz. I have attempted to get the rock through the valve control assemblies that are on the front of the case. In the process I ended up pushing it down further so it's now below the bottom right pulley in humfrz' pic. I've been using a 3mm borescope but now the rock is out of sight and reach.

Possible name change since I'm the first?

RockyMotor86?:lol:

Beat me to it.

Closest I've come is dropping a screw into the distributor on a 1972 Chevy Luv on the side of the road. Thing was running like shit because it was tuned at 7k feet in the Rockies and when I hit the Oregon coast it was terrible so I decided to mess with it then realized the cap was cracked and the points were burned. I should have chosen a better location or just taken it to a shop... This was two days after the throwout bearing carrier melted in Ontario Oregon and we had to replace it and the clutch disc in a parking lot without a tranny jack. I miss good old school road trips :bonk:

Well now "RockyMotor86" ...... if that rock is where you describe, I think I'd just let er lie there. It appears that even it worked its way down to the lowest point of the case it wouldn't do any harm.

Having said that, who can chime in, that actually has had that cover off and could comment on whether or not there is an oil passage down there the rock could block ..... ??

How big is the rock/pebble ... ??


humfrz

Hey man, I've got a shop recommendation for you.
VIP performance near 82nd. They were able to swap out my final drive to 4.56 in 3 hours, the owner has an 86 that he tracks. The owner wryann is Incredibly fair with his rates since he's so fast at his work, call them up!

Coat hanger and a piece of bubblegum

what if the bubble gum falls off... now you have gum on the bottom of your engine too lol

You guys are thinking too far outside the box...they make tools for everything nowadays!
get yourself a car inspection camera and grabber tool (like said earlier) and a lot of patients

heres the camera I have, but you can for sure get something cheaper, around $50 to $80
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/tools-...ontent=Default

Sorry, cant help but coincidentally the dealer is taking my engine out to remove the timing cover as I type this.


So - if the front cover has to come off, the engine comes out.


Only suggestion I have is that IF you decide to do the deep dive and pay a mechanic to go in and find it: you could try to flush it out with a stream of new oil first.
If it comes out the drain plug, then story over. If it doesn't come out, where might it have gone?

You can pull the timing cover with the engine in the car, I've done it to change a cam gear. Try pulling the cam position sensor, if it's small enough you might be lucky enough to have it drop through the hole. Other than that, once oil floods into that area there's a port on the head that drains back oil and the rock will go into the head and may drain down into the pan. Not 100% sure on that though.

Thanks for all the insight fellas. Have used a 3mm borescope with wire and all kinds of tools to try to get that damn rock out with no luck.

Thank you @Aztec! Had an appt. at PRE next friday but called Ryan over at VIP Performance and he can get me in monday at a very good rate. They're installing a perrin lightweight pulley and fumoto drain valve while they're in there :happyanim:
:burnrubber:

I'm going to check for rocks every time I change my oil now..:lol:

So, @Gbaby86 ........ did they get the rock out .. ??


humfrz

He got it. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...92#post2605392

I suggested he make a pendant but...

How did I miss that ?....... I think my threads got cross threaded ...... :bonk:


humfrz

I chased them for you. :cheers:

:thumbsup:


Thanks!

THAT'S the stuff!