'95 Blazer 4.3L Vortec 4wd
Well, while replacing my FPR I dropped my T15 tip down the intake. I know I should have covered them and I'm pretty mad at myself. I have a long flexible magnet with a pretty strong magnet on it. I thought for sure I could just stick it in there and pull it out. I was thinking it would be right at the valve, if I'm even getting that far in there but I'm pretty sure I am. I read the post about using an inspection camera and I'll do that if I can't get it. I also read the one about the mechanic who said it would be fine, but I know better than to start it and see what happens.My next thought was that it might have gone thru the valve into the cylinder, if that's possible. In that case I am guessing I would go in thru the spark plug hole? I am staying pretty calm right now trying not to beat myself up too bad for not covering those holes. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I love my Blazer and it's my only ride so I need to figure this out. Thank you for any info.

 

well i wouldnt beat yourself up too much over it. the apprentice next to me left one of my sockets IN the cylinder and forgot to check BEFORE he bolted the head back on.... but i would think your headin in the right direction. if your pretty sure that it did fall into the cylinder i guess you could go through the spark plug hole to try and get it. and you could probably use a ratchet and slowly rotate the motor up and get it out through the hole. but i would try the inspection camera first.

good luck!

 

the valve in the head should stop it since the intake isn't exactly a free breather. worst case, you might have to pop the upper intake mani off and dig it out i'd suspect.

 

Ok, been out there for a while trying to get this thing out of there. I'm having no luck going in the hole it fell in. My magnet goes a good way in there and bottoms out. I don't understand why it is not sitting right there unless it went around a corner or something. Is that possible? Going back out to try going thru the spark plug hole but I don't think it's that deep. My simple fix has turned into a stresser. Still trying to get to home depot to rent a camera but while I wait for a ride, I 'm still tryin. Really don't want to have to pull the rest of the intake.

 

I guess I'm going to have to remove the lower intake to get this thing out. Can I just mark the distributor really well and not touch anything and install it back the exact same way? I don't want to crank my engine over to TDC and risk allowing the tip to go deeper in the engine. Going to tear into it tomorrow afternoon so if you have any other suggestions before I dive into this , I'm all ears. Any quick tips or experience tips would be great. Thanx for any info.

 

Well I got a hold of an inspection camera and found the tip. Stuck my magnet in there and got it right out. Saved by the camera!!!

 

haha! there ya go. beats the hell out of having to pull that intake off. where did you get the camera and how much did it run ya?

 

I got the Milwaukee from home depot. $250 but it came with a cordless drill so really not too bad of a deal. Definitely worth not having to pull the intake. I was dreadin that.