[RESOLVED] Head stud fell through motor into oil pan...DOH!

[Daveed]

I was putting my head studs on my shortblock which is still on the engine stand and I accidentally put the stud in the driver rear corner oil drain hole. Its about 1 inch from the stud hole and about the same size. The dang arp stud went "tink tink tink bang!" as it went straight down to the oil pan which I'd just siliconed on last night.WTF

After turning the motor over on the engine stand a few times I've got the stud at the oil pan drain plug but I really don't think it will fit through it. Looks like I'll be pulling the oil pan back off tomorrow morning...
unless you guys got any other ideas on how to get that stud out of there.



PS I tried a magnet retriever rod thing through the turbo oil return line hole but it won't reach over, around the crank, and down into the low part of the pan. The dipstick hole is smaller than the stud diameter too.

 

[cruisintalonawd]

i did that once but mine stopped at the fist tink....taking the pan off is the only way I would think of doing it

 

[tunethis]

Maybe you can get a really strong magnet, place it on the oil pan and move the stud to the oil drain?

 

[desolateboosted]

Save yourself more hassle and just take off the oil pan.

 

[Daveed]

I probably spent more time last night trying to fish the thing out than it would have taken to just remove the pan. I'll be removing the pan this morning then putting it right back on. DOH!

Usually when something like this happens it means I've lost my concentration and need to go take a break for a while

EDIT: got it done. I took quite a bit to get that pan back off. I had used rtv on both sides of the gasket. The gasket split in half for the most part. Cost me about $5 cause I ended up using the entire tube of rtv from having to do the pan twice.

 

[Defiant]

FYI, the factory didn't use an oil pan gasket. Just sealer. A gasket adds a leak path.

 

[blcknspo0ln]

FYI, the factory didn't use an oil pan gasket. Just sealer. A gasket adds a leak path.

I wish I knew that about 2 months ago. 4 oil-pan-drops-later someone from a local forum told me to stop wasting time with those dumb felpro gaskets. Just make sure you use a lot of RTV (I used permatex 'great stuff'), DO NOT overtorque the bolts, and make sure you bang out any dents in the mating surface.

 

[Defiant]

Best sealant for the pan is Permatex Ultra Grey.