Hot Rods LOST Nut..in intake...HELP..

Broke out a stud on my water goose neck on top of the Chevy 350 intake...once the goose neck was off I double nutted the broken stud...OPPS..I drop a 3/8" nut down into the passenger side water cooling port...The engine is on a stand...so I rotated it..no luck...took a telescoping magnet with flex head..no luck...removed the intake...no luck and lastly I took the frost plug out... no luck...no nut to be found...WHAT TO DO...??...friend told me I should add a small section of screen over the inlet side of the water pump...???..so the pump would not suck it in..?? Any advise..

 

I'd look on the floor.

 

I'd look in the cylinders....if it's not there, I'd not worry about it.

kind of curious what a 3/16" nut is doing in this operation?

 

The stud broke off where my finger is ( first pic) the nut went into the thermostat port.....I then took the intake off...( no luck no nut)...so it must of went down into the water head port in pic 2...

 

I thought about that...make me wonder...lol..

 

know anyone that might have a flexible snake camera (with built in light)? to use to look down port/in cylinder

 

Can I get into that area with that flex camera....??.... I should mention that this is a new long block engine...no fluids at all inside..and it is mounted on an engine stand....

 

I would let it go. It will probably get stuck in the bottom of the water jacket somewhere.

 

Well for it to get into the "intake port" of the water pump it would have to travel all the way though the radiator and back up though the lower radiator hose as that is the intake port of the water pump.
I'm with Jim in that if it didn't get into the intake an into a cylinder you are good.

 

I was wondering about the 3/16" part. I could understand a 3/8" nut getting involved, but not a little 3/16" nut.

 

I agree, the nut will stay close to where it is now. The flow of coolant through an engine is not sufficient to pick up a nut and carry it “up” into the intake. If you have ever taken out freeze plug, you will see rust “ flakes” and crap that seek the lowest part of the engine. A solid piece of steel will act the same, in my opinion.
Now if it went down the intake port....... that’s a different story!


Bones

 

Sound advice from people who know more about engines than I do, but every time I fired that motor up... I'd wonder.

 

You just answered your question! regardless of what will happen, put your mind at ease. At this point in the game, it would be easy to pull the head, 15 or so bolts and a head gasket and thirty minutes.

Bones

 

A teenager was helping me, rebuilt his 283, while bolting things together, he accidentally dropped a nut down the intake before the carb was on... didn’t tell me, while it was running, adjusting the valves, the engine seized up.... guess what I found? Yup a 3/8” nut in one of the cylinders. It bent the valve, luckily didn’t break a piston. I’m with Squirrel on this one.


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Opps your right 3/8".....nut...this was the other end of the double nut I did..

 

Your right on...turning the key and pray....this whole mess is in a 71 Chevy g30 van..

 

Flow of water would bring it back to the thermostat anyway, IF the flow was strong enough, which it probably isn't

 

- know one motor that 3/8" nut somehow got into cylinder & damage cylinder/piston

important detail

yep

 

Seems like the thing I should do...I really did not think it would be a big deal since it was in the cooling system ports..

 

If it got into the cylinder from the cooling system, you have much bigger problems!!

 

if the intake was installed, and there was a cover over the carb opening, it didn't get into any of the cylinders.

If it did, you'd know when you slowly crank the engine over by hand. It would stop.

 

Ha......you got that right..but it's in the cooling system..thank god it was not dropped into an intake port of exhaust for..

 

Jim the nut fell into the cooling system port..so no way can it get into the cylinder..

 

no need to pull the head, the nut will just sit in the bottom of the block cooling passage, if that's where it is.

 

That is what I thought..leaving it....I think I did not make my case clear at the beginning...thanks!..

 

Some basic info diagram.....on the water flow...I'm going to let it go..leaving it in the cooling system..

 

One last complicated possible solution. If you have access to a sbc block and head, put them on an engine stand, put a head gasket and head on with two bolts, drop a nut in the port, turn the engine upside down, like you did on your engine. Then turn it up right and pull the head and look for the nut. If it’s still in the head, get a magnet and wire and bend it to where the nut came to rest, and pull it out. Sometimes just jabbing a shop magnet repeatedly into a hole will not get it to where it needs to be. Or...... just leave it be! Lol

Edit: I have also, in the past, fabbed a piece of small copper tubing or brake line onto my compressed air nozzle and blown air into the bottom of the hole and blown small stuff out, might try that.


Bones

 

The air thing sounds easy..will try that tomorrow..a friend told me to try a shop vac and suck the thing out.. I think that since the nut fell into the cooling system path (post) that it should stay put at the base of the block...thanksfor your input!!

 

You have the intake off already I would just pull the head.

 

The nut fell into the cooling system port...not the cylinder intake..see pics at top of post...