God is a wrencher

[glenmore]

My weekend car repair experience reminded me of this old joke.

You've probable all heard this one in one form or another:

The Big Flood

It had been raining for days and days, and a terrible flood had come over the land. The waters rose so high that one man was forced to climb onto the roof of his house.

As the waters rose higher and higher, a man in a rowboat appeared, and told him to get in. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the rowboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and suddenly a speedboat appeared. "Climb in!" shouted a man in the boat. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the speedboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.


The waters continued to rise. A helicopter appeared and over the loudspeaker, the pilot announced he would lower a rope to the man on the roof. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the helicopter went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and eventually they rose so high that the man on the roof was washed away, and alas, the poor man drowned.

Upon arriving in heaven, the man marched straight over to God. "Heavenly Father," he said, "I had faith in you, I prayed to you to save me, and yet you did nothing. Why?" God gave him a puzzled look, and replied "I sent you two boats and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"

So I was changing the water pump in my 1991 Mercedes 300CE (not easy if you are thinking of trying it yourself). Pretty annoying repair. Besides the routine stuff like taking off pulleys and hoses you have to take off all sorts of odd parts like the distributor cap to get at a hold or the dip stick tube so you can get a look at one of the bolts holding the pump.

So I take out the dipstick tube and I carefully jam a rag in there in case I drop something. Sure enough I drop some things but I am saved by the rag. I am finishing up the repair so I remove the rag but remember one more small bolt. I concentrate but I drop the bolt. It lands on the ledge next to the hole so I'm saved again. Do I take heed and spare a few seconds to stuff the rag down there? Noooooooo. I'm beat and forge ahead, drop the bolt AGAIN and as near as I can tell, it went down the hole.

He tried to help but I wouldn't listen.

 

[Scout Driver]

AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

What is the next course of action??

If I didn't live half way across the country, I'd drop what I was doing and offer to help.



Scott

 

[glenmore]

AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

What is the next course of action??

If I didn't live half way across the country, I'd drop what I was doing and offer to help.

Scott

Thanks for the offer but AFAIK the bolt in rolling around in my oil pan. I had to run out to Home Depot to find another 6mm socket cap screw. It was the hold down for a fuel injector so I couldn't start the car without it. I don't think any harm can come from the screw down there, but fingers crossed!

 

[Stick Figure]

drain the oil, you might get lucky and get the bolt back, assuming the drain plug is big enough. Otherwise a magnetic drain plug may find it eventually.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Telescopic magnet down the dipstick tube? Worth a shot.

 

[ghnl]

I bought our Alfa Romeo Spider fairly cheap because of a similar story (the bolt, not the flood...). PO was changing camshafts & negleted to stuff a rag into the timing chain area. He dropped a bolt down into the sump and then lost interest in the car rather than pull the motor or drop the sump to retrieve the bolt.

I pulled the engine to rebuild it (it had sat unused for a year or two) and found the bolt. It was in a baffled area of the sump and likely would have never caused a problem.

 

[wrenchr]

Nope sorry, I'm a plain old mortal guy lol

 

[fatfillup]

Nope sorry, I'm a plain old mortal guy lol

I believe the spelling is different.

As a man of faith, I've always loved that joke because it rings true for those of faith and also those who don't believe in God. (save the flame throwers, I not preaching religion) If we keep our eyes open, and are flexible about the solutions to our problems, they often show up right under our noses. Also, when we ignore common sense, we get burned.

 

[bonneyman]

Several good tips here. If it were me, I'd drop the pan and get that stupid bolt out of there, just to know for sure.

 

[truckdriver]

If the drain plug hole is big enough you could get a strong magnet and run it across the pan to move it to the drain.

 

[Brad54]

God is not only a wrencher, he's a Mopar guy. Says right in the Bible that he drove Adam and Eve out of the garden in his Fury.
And when Jesus comes back, he'll be driving a white Charger.

-Brad

 

[dgarage]

God is not only a wrencher, he's a Mopar guy. Says right in the Bible that he drove Adam and Eve out of the garden in his Fury.
And when Jesus comes back, he'll be driving a white Charger.

-Brad

LOL! That's great!

 

[Steve from Socal]

Regarding your lost bolt; next time you change the oil drop the lower oil pan, it is a half hour job on and off. You won't need a replacement gasket.

Steve

 

[ghnl]

God is not only a wrencher, he's a Mopar guy.

The New Testament says Jesus & the disciples were in one Accord...

cue lightning bolt

 

[Brad54]

The New Testament says Jesus & the disciples were in one Accord...

cue lightning bolt

Acts, 19:29. Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul's traveling companions, were driven to the theater in one Accord.

-Brad

 

[TireTracks]

God is not only a wrencher, he's a Mopar guy. Says right in the Bible that he drove Adam and Eve out of the garden in his Fury.
And when Jesus comes back, he'll be driving a white Charger.

-Brad

 

[Tavy]

If it's a steel bolt on one of the aluminium/non-magnetic pans, get a magnet from a pinholder (they're pretty strong, borrow your mom's if you have to) and run it along the bottom of the pan to try to get it to the drain plug and drain it. Worst case scenario, it gets into the oil pickup screen and eats itself.. not a good result.

Rec'd dropping the pan and just getting it over with. You're right, that waterpump replacement isn't fun, but you're in for worse if the screw gets in the pickup.

next time you change the oil drop the lower oil pan

You'd be removing the lower to get the upper off if it's stuck on something else. If you're doing it right.
Gray RTV is great stuff, by the way.

 

[Steve from Socal]

Rec'd dropping the pan and just getting it over with. You're right, that waterpump replacement isn't fun, but you're in for worse if the screw gets in the pickup.

You'd be removing the lower to get the upper off if it's stuck on something else. If you're doing it right.
Gray RTV is great stuff, by the way.

The dip stick tube on M104 engines goes all the way to the bottom of the oil pan, the bolt will fall to the bottom unimpeded. The lower pan is steel and, the gasket between the two is a thick rubber that requires no sealer.

Steve

 

[X1 Mike]

While reinstalling a vehicle speed sensor in a Harley V-Rod I dropped the mounting screw in the VSS hole. I was rushing and had the screw in one hand and the sensor in the other instead of putting the sensor in first then bringing the screw to it. This hole goes directly into the transmission. To get it out required splitting the cases............

 

[fatfillup]

Guys, thanks for the Biblical references, good laughs there. I can't remember which old Testament person (Gideon, Sampson or Joshua or ???) rode into town on a Triumph. A classic English motorcycle, obviously it wasn't raining that day. Again don't flame me, but laughter is a gift from God (higher power if you prefer) and something to be thankful for. It always makes you feel better when you laugh. If you don't believe, you can still be thankful for laughter cause doctors and scientists will tell you it release endorphines and they are great for mental health.

 

[DanCo]

With stories like these, I take comfort with keeping small flat neodymium magnets that I tape to my finger.