From: Michael on
I was changing the valve cover gasket on my wife's '99 Camry.

I was scraping off the old silicone that was there, when a piece about
1/2 inch long by, oh, say 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide fell in under a
camshaft.

I tried to fish it out, but then it went in under the camshaft
supports.

How bad is this?
From: Ray O on

"Michael" <mrdarrett(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9d17541e-4c18-422f-a760-cc7987d64686(a)b7g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
>I was changing the valve cover gasket on my wife's '99 Camry.
>
> I was scraping off the old silicone that was there, when a piece about
> 1/2 inch long by, oh, say 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide fell in under a
> camshaft.
>
> I tried to fish it out, but then it went in under the camshaft
> supports.
>
> How bad is this?

If the piece blocks one of the oil drains, you have a problem. If it
somehow makes it all way down to the pan, then no problem. Did you try a
piece of pipe cleaner or an un-zipped zip tie to fish it out? How about
some clean oil to flush it out?

By the way, if the valve cover uses formed-in-place gasket (FIPG), do not
use silicone on the valve cover! Use only FIPG products that are listed as
safe for O-2 sensors. If the valve cover uses a regular gasket, do not try
to make one out of FIPG as it will almost always leak.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)


From: Michael on
On Mar 5, 10:48 pm, "Ray O" <rokig...(a)NOSPAMtristarassociates.com>
wrote:
> "Michael" <mrdarr...(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:9d17541e-4c18-422f-a760-cc7987d64686(a)b7g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
>
> >I was changing the valve cover gasket on my wife's '99 Camry.
>
> > I was scraping off the old silicone that was there, when a piece about
> > 1/2 inch long by, oh, say 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide fell in under a
> > camshaft.
>
> > I tried to fish it out, but then it went in under the camshaft
> > supports.
>
> > How bad is this?
>
> If the piece blocks one of the oil drains, you have a problem.  If it
> somehow makes it all way down to the pan, then no problem.  Did you try a
> piece of pipe cleaner or an un-zipped zip tie to fish it out?  How about
> some clean oil to flush it out?
>
> By the way, if the valve cover uses formed-in-place gasket (FIPG), do not
> use silicone on the valve cover!  Use only FIPG products that are listed as
> safe for O-2 sensors.  If the valve cover uses a regular gasket, do not try
> to make one out of FIPG as it will almost always leak.
> --
>
> Ray O
> (correct punctuation to reply)


Thanks Ray.

Didn't have any pipe cleaners... just used a bent paper clip. Tried
long-nosed pliers but wouldn't fit. Then it went under the camshaft
supports... aargh!

This is perhaps the farthest I've delved in trying to maintain the
cars. First time removing the valve cover.

I drove the car around the neighborhood already, partly to make sure
no more oil would seep out of the valve cover gasket. So far so good.

Where are the oil drains exactly? How many of them are there? How
large are they? 1/4-inch diameter? 1/8-inch? 1/2 inch?

I don't suppose silicone will dissolve in a pool of hot oil...?

Not sure what exactly it was prior. Is the OEM stuff rubber, or
silicone? I took the car to Pep Boys for valve cover gasket change ~3
years ago, and they left some gray stuff there which is what came out
while I was cleaning the cylinder head.

The rubber stuff in the cover came out pretty easily. I'm guessing
that's what Pep Boys put in.

Was thinking about removing the camshafts but decided against it -
afraid if I mess up the alignment.

Thanks!

Michael
From: Jeff Strickland on

"Michael" <mrdarrett(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9d17541e-4c18-422f-a760-cc7987d64686(a)b7g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
>I was changing the valve cover gasket on my wife's '99 Camry.
>
> I was scraping off the old silicone that was there, when a piece about
> 1/2 inch long by, oh, say 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide fell in under a
> camshaft.
>
> I tried to fish it out, but then it went in under the camshaft
> supports.
>
> How bad is this?


Having debris is not a good thing, but this is very soft and will get ground
up even smaller, then it will be captured by the oil filter. The route of
the oil from the top of the engine to the bottom has the oil draining
through large openings as opposed to small passages, so it's not likely that
any holes will be plugged or clogged. The debris will collect in the oil pan
and remain there. It may come out with the next oil change, but it won't go
into the engine to get to a place where it can do any harm. (There is a
screen that will keep the large pieces from being sucked into the pump
system, and the oil filter will collect the small particles as the rubber
breaks apart.

My point is, you want to avoid such things, but I'd not recommend taking the
engine apart to retrieve the lost silicon chunk(s).



From: Michael on
On Mar 6, 8:46 am, "Jeff Strickland" <crwlrj...(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> "Michael" <mrdarr...(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:9d17541e-4c18-422f-a760-cc7987d64686(a)b7g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
>
> >I was changing the valve cover gasket on my wife's '99 Camry.
>
> > I was scraping off the old silicone that was there, when a piece about
> > 1/2 inch long by, oh, say 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide fell in under a
> > camshaft.
>
> > I tried to fish it out, but then it went in under the camshaft
> > supports.
>
> > How bad is this?
>
> Having debris is not a good thing, but this is very soft and will get ground
> up even smaller, then it will be captured by the oil filter. The route of
> the oil from the top of the engine to the bottom has the oil draining
> through large openings as opposed to small passages, so it's not likely that
> any holes will be plugged or clogged. The debris will collect in the oil pan
> and remain there. It may come out with the next oil change, but it won't go
> into the engine to get to a place where it can do any harm. (There is a
> screen that will keep the large pieces from being sucked into the pump
> system, and the oil filter will collect the small particles as the rubber
> breaks apart.
>
> My point is, you want to avoid such things, but I'd not recommend taking the
> engine apart to retrieve the lost silicon chunk(s).



Great, thanks! I was really debating whether I should take the valve
cover off, buying yet another valve cover gasket, flooding the
cylinder head with oil, and fishing it out... but that assumes it will
stay in the cylinder head area...

Next time I'll cover the camshaft area with a cloth before peeling off
bits of silicone stuck to the cylinder head.

Michael D.