[Lxnewolf]

Dropped a torx screw stupidely while trying to re install my bumper after swapping my grilles. It fell towards the front of the engine bay between the hood latch and the front of the car on the left side when facing the vehicle. I tried locating the screw as it is really big with a washer on it, but I could not locate it. I drove my car around my parking lot but nothing has fallen loose. Will it be okay? Will it eventually fall out or should I be worried about this somehow damaging my engine? I used a telescopic light with a magnet head but I could not find it for the life of me someone please advise!

[aozer]

its totaled.

[Sypher]

If you really want to get it back, lift up the car and drop the belly pan. Otherwise, let it be and just a replacement bolt from the dealership. The lost bolt will work itself out. Worst case scenario, it works itself out during a turn and you run over it causing a flat.

[duluthtwo]

Originally Posted by aozer

its totaled.

I agree it could be a total loss. This has happened with several BMW's. The wayward bolt will eventually find it's way to the muffler bearings closing exhaust flow. This leads to seizure of the piston return springs. Warranty will not cover by the way

[DaleHeinz]

Originally Posted by duluthtwo

I agree it could be a total loss. This has happened with several BMW's. The wayward bolt will eventually find it's way to the muffler bearings closing exhaust flow. This leads to seizure of the piston return springs. Warranty will not cover by the way

What if it gets sucked in the air intake? Oh no!!

Seriously though, if you have a magnet wand, try poking around in there and see if you can get it to catch.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by duluthtwo

I agree it could be a total loss. This has happened with several BMW's. The wayward bolt will eventually find it's way to the muffler bearings closing exhaust flow. This leads to seizure of the piston return springs. Warranty will not cover by the way

...and if it pierces the blinker fluid reservoir, the car's toast!

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by Lxnewolf

Dropped a torx screw stupidely while trying to re install my bumper after swapping my grilles. It fell towards the front of the engine bay between the hood latch and the front of the car on the left side when facing the vehicle. I tried locating the screw as it is really big with a washer on it, but I could not locate it. I drove my car around my parking lot but nothing has fallen loose. Will it be okay? Will it eventually fall out or should I be worried about this somehow damaging my engine? I used a telescopic light with a magnet head but I could not find it for the life of me someone please advise!

FWIW: You should not have driven the car. Now the bolt could be anywhere, including not in the car anymore. That move significantly lessened your chances of finding it.

That said, you need that bolt. I would stop looking for it and order a new one from your dealer. Then, to be prepared for the next time this happens (and it will), buy three things:

- A telescopic wand with a rare earth magnet on the tip (basically looks like an old-school telescoping antenna)
- A flexible, spring-loaded 'grabber' tool at least 18 inches in length (basically looks like a long wired shutter release for an SLR camera ... if you remember those, LOL) for fasteners that are not metal or made from a non-magnetic metal such as aluminum
- A magnetic bowl strong enough to hold metal objects while upside down (or after inadvertently kicking it ... )

It's important to have the right tools for the job -- and if the job involves the removal of fasteners, these three tools are must-haves.

[3.0L]

Well, at least you didn't drop the Torx screw down a spark plug hole.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

Well, at least you didn't drop the Torx screw down a spark plug hole.

Right there with you! (IOW: Been there, done that!)

[amw896]

I just lost one of those intake clips the other day in similar fashion. Can't find it for the life of me!

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Right there with you! (IOW: Been there, done that!)

Ha! Not to mention the somewhat scary days of actual carburetors with those big holes facing upwards. Heh!

I never had the misfortune of dropping something into the bowels of an engine, but I did experience something similar with my second motorcycle; a brand new Honda 160.

The dual carburetors each had a peculiar choke that hung down into the carb throat when activated. Each of those chokes had a small, spring-loaded circular flapper valve. Well, one of those little flapper valves came loose one day and went right in a cylinder. Man, what noise! I could feel the resistance at TDC when I slowly cranked the engine over with the kick starter. I pulled the cylinderhead (which involved removing the engine from the frame) only to find this little piece of very mangled metal.

At that point, I had no idea where it came from, so I reassembled the engine, only to have the same problem occur a week later in the other cylinder. Finally, we discovered the missing parts from the chokes. After that, got the engine repaired, including new pistons, new rings and new carbs under factory warranty.

[Deutsche-Broke]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

FWIW: You should not have driven the car. Now the bolt could be anywhere, including not in the car anymore. That move significantly lessened your chances of finding it.

That said, you need that bolt. I would stop looking for it and order a new one from your dealer. Then, to be prepared for the next time this happens (and it will), buy three things:

- A telescopic wand with a rare earth magnet on the tip (basically looks like an old-school telescoping antenna)
- A flexible, spring-loaded 'grabber' tool at least 18 inches in length (basically looks like a long wired shutter release for an SLR camera ... if you remember those, LOL) for fasteners that are not metal or made from a non-magnetic metal such as aluminum
- A magnetic bowl strong enough to hold metal objects while upside down (or after inadvertently kicking it ... )

It's important to have the right tools for the job -- and if the job involves the removal of fasteners, these three tools are must-haves.

^^This is great advice.. In previous models, I lost a couple of trim screws down to the floor pan and it took the better part of an afternoon to get them back. Other cars that I owned were not as sealed below as the BMW lines..

Now I'm equipped with multiple magnetic, long reach retrieval tools and a cheap flexible camera mount for a smartphone. (All available cheaply from Amazon), But the most important as mentioned above is a magnetic base bowl to hold any fasteners or small tools combined with a small voice in the back of your head constantly telling you, "Is setting that 10 mm socket down on the engine cover worth the rest of your afternoon to remove the bottom pan and re-install it correctly?

My sub-conscious answer is now a resounding no.

No biggie.. Just different, and honestly, a cleaner way to work under the hood.

[wntrsnowg]

Hopefully you bought GAP insurance

[Soul_Glo]

I dropped a screw a few months ago and it sat there behind the headlight telescopic washer nozzle until I fished it out.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by duluthtwo

I agree it could be a total loss. This has happened with several BMW's. The wayward bolt will eventually find it's way to the muffler bearings closing exhaust flow. This leads to seizure of the piston return springs. Warranty will not cover by the way

+1 I dropped the whole screwdriver in engine pay, almost totaled the car

On the serious note, dealer had to remove some parts in front in order to get it out...done it for free though

[seedyrom]

My wedding ring is somewhere in my engine bay .... or on a road somewhere by now

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

The dual carburetors each had a peculiar choke that hung down into the carb throat when activated. Each of those chokes had a small, spring-loaded circular flapper valve. Well, one of those little flapper valves came loose one day and went right in a cylinder. Man, what noise! I could feel the resistance at TDC when I slowly cranked the engine over with the kick starter. I pulled the cylinderhead (which involved removing the engine from the frame) only to find this little piece of very mangled metal.

This reminds me of a similar experience some 40 years ago; I had one of those car-like products of the Polish moto-industry of those times, the Polski Fiat based on the Fiat 125 license but with engine originating back 10 more years, in the times of original Italian 1.3 and 1.5L constructions... I participated in WRC-style rallies then so I did a swap for the much more modern 2L engine from the Fiat 131/132; a nice DOHC motor with Weber dual carburetor. Right after I finished my work, I took the car for a spin; all was fine until I heard that noise of a washer being mangled inside one of the cylinders; still can feel that panic feeling (and no wonder - cars and spare parts were just silly expensive in communist era Poland). Fortunately enough I was able to take the remnants of the washer out of the cylinder - of course after having pulled the cylinder head (I probably could have used suction through the spark plug hole, but wanted to inspect the inside of my new engine for any possible damage, of which luckily I found none)...

Those were the days, my Friends - I was 27 back then

Piotr

[Maynard]

Way back when I used to hang out with an engine builder, he would talk about all kinds of gnarly crap they would find floating around in the cylinders - spark plug electrodes or the first ring of threads, carb parts, and those little circlips from the throttle linkages were probably most 'popular'. One of his paperweights was a piston from a big block with a socket embedded in the crown (also had one w/ an intake valve that way) - he called it his '$1000 paperweight' and would note that there was a matching boat anchor.