Dropped nut and can't find it.

[Johnny O]

Ok I was cleaning the grounds on my negative battery cable and I dropped the nut that attaches to the back of the block where there's an opening close to the speed and reference sensors. And since I can't locate it, I'm not sure what to do to check it out. I've went all over and under with my magnet and even removed the starter just to check if it dropped around it. The magnet I have is too big to poke down in the hole to feel around. It's and automatic. Anyone else have this happen or idea's on what to do. Thanks in advance...

[Waz951]

That hole in the bell housing is where the clutch/flywheel/pressure plate is located. You may have to remove the metal protection plate if your car still has it, and the bolt could be sitting on it. Otherwise, next would be unbolt the starter motor and heat shield which will give you a lot of access to see if you dropped it in the bellhousing.



Just noticed now that you said your car is auto. I'm not that familar with the differences as I've only worked on manual 944's.




Take a look at this video starting around the 8min mark if you need some additional guidance on whats going on down there.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGIPx5WeDyM

[IdahoDoug]

If you hold a strong magnet against one end of a metal rod, the other end will pick up nuts and such. Perhaps you have something longer you can fit down there and maybe a helper to hold the magnet on while you're fishing and moving things in case that releases a slightly stuck bolt.

[jhowell371]

Since it's an automatic if you are lucky you should be able to turn the engine over by hand and it will drop out the bottom of the bell housing with the metal shield removed. A pressure plate has nooks and crannies places for the nut to lodge in. I always stick a rag in there when working close with small droppable items. Good luck.

[Johnny O]

Originally Posted by jhowell371

Since it's an automatic if you are lucky you should be able to turn the engine over by hand and it will drop out the bottom of the bell housing with the metal shield removed. A pressure plate has nooks and crannies places for the nut to lodge in. I always stick a rag in there when working close with small droppable items. Good luck.

Thanks for the info, granted I should've been more cautious, but my brain and my hands weren't talking to each other lol. Still no luck finding it today, but my motor hand turns fine. I have my brother coming over tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have better luck...

[Johnny O]

Ok my Porsche friends, I still have not been able to locate the nut for the negative battery cable grounding, that slipped out of my fingers and dropped somewhere around the flywheel housing open slot around the top close to the speed and reference sensors. I've turned the motor by hand several times no issues or odd noises or clanking, and I bought better magnets to get in and around the housing and still nothing. I'm going to try using a coat hanger and see what I can find. I've also been all over the garage floor and any place under the car (heat shielding and such). I'm beginning to feel like I'm in an episode of the Twilight Zone. I'd really hate to come so far, for my own lack of preparation and forgetfulness, to make sure I had prepared better and covered the slot, to slow me down now. It sends shivers up my spine thinking I might have to pull it all apart and still find notta, but the thought of it possibly doing a lot of harm both to my body🤕 and wallet💲💲💲💲doesn't sound appealing either. Maybe tomorrow I'll have better luck. Thanks for your insight and keep the ideas and prayers ⚜coming. 🚘🔍🔦🕯🔭💡🔬🔧🔩🏁

[DannoXYZ]

hold car upside-down and shake it!

[Bukowski]

It looks like you’ll need to become an expert at magnets (not that I am):

stack them up for more strength

Move them on the exterior of the bell housing

Use multiple magnets

Different shapes

Incorporate non-magnetic tools (e.g. flexible chase rod) with different magnet shapes (round circles with holes)

Shaping magnets?

Epoxy

GOOD LUCK!

[Bukowski]

Vacuum suction??

[jhowell371]

Since the flex plate has nothing in there to jam up and cause a malfunction like a pressure plate I would run it around with the sheet metal shield off for a while. Maybe starting or driving will jar it loose if it's in there. I beginning to think it's hiding elsewhere in the Black Hole of dropped bits. Been there, lost that

[thom4782]

Amazon sells a endoscope / boroscope that hooks up with mobile phone. The head is a bit larger than a pencil eraser. Might help in exploring where the nut might be before trying to fish it out.

https://www.amazon.com/Depstech-Endoscope-Inspection-Megapixels-Smartphone/dp/B01MYTHWK4/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=ADEWJFD1TQJA&keywords=scope+camera&qid=1557151342&s=gateway&sprefix=scope%2Caps%2C210&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

[Johnny O]

Hallelujah today I win, nut finally found with a borescope and successfully retrieved. This time my brain and hands were communicating again. Shoved rag in flywheel housing slot and tighten my new negative battery cable and grounds. Now to put all the other crap I took off trying to find the thing. Thanks everyone for your insight. There's still hope for me yet lol...

[Spring44]

So, where was it?

[daveurethane]

Ok now for all.of us ...... you found it were

[Johnny O]

Originally Posted by Spring44

So, where was it?

After I set the borescope inspection camera up. Instead of falling into the flywheel housing slot the logical way, through the slot into the back of the housing. It had some how flipped toward the front (closer to the engine side) and just laying loosely in a crevice. My brother and I turned the motor several times by hand and it should have simply dropped out, nothing was binding or pinning it or holding it down. For some odd reason Newton's law of gravity wasn't working, or maybe the earth was spinning at strange axis lol. I attached the little magnet that came with the scope and it took quite a bit of trying to figure out my bearings and which direction to twist and bend, and just as I started pull back and try again the magnet caught it. So I was praying as I started pulling it out very slowly. After I got it out I immediately stuffed shop rag in the hole.I put little bit of tape on the nut and inserted it into the socket and ratcheted it into place. After I buttoned up everything I had took off and got all my wires and new battery cables zip tide and in place. I went over the car again to make sure I didn't miss a vacuum line anything else. My car fired up and idled better than it ever had. I had replaced my motor mounts several years ago and a few years back I had a shop do the timing belt, balance shaft belt, tensioners, seals, etc, etc. My car always had this idle like the passenger side motor mount had broken again, but after I started it up it's never sounded so good and no vibrations of a bad motor mount at all, even all my gauges seemed to be working properly. Before it had always ran hot even though we scanned it and the reading were good, and since I cleaned the fuel sending unit I can finally tell how much gas is in the tank. It's like when I replaced both battery cables and cleaned the grounds (though I did replace all fuses, plug wires, and a bunch of other sensors and odds and ends) just the two battery cables made a huge difference in how it's running now. It's nice to see it idling and revving smooth without any sign of a broken motor mount vibration. Thanks again everyone for your insight and help, and of course Clark's Garage page. Thanks my Porsche friends...

[Johnny O]

Just a few more pics and of course you gotta have a toy model for your car lol...

[DannoXYZ]

Good job getting that nut out!!

[Johnny O]

Originally Posted by DannoXYZ

Good job getting that nut out!!

Thanks Danno, otherwise I was going to ask you to come help shaking the car, I could only lift one side up 😃🙃🤘...

[Tom944]

You can buy a plug for the fly wheel hole on eBay!