Bloody typical!

Was fitting a leisure battery to my van last night and managed to drop a small spanner (I think it was the 6mm one) down into the engine bay of my T5 between the battery bay and the headlight. It did not hit the ground and, after a lot of swearing, has not made it to the bash tray under the block.

Short of turning the van upside down and giving it a bit of a shake, is my best option going to be to go for a very short, bumpy, swervy, sharp braking drive and seeing if it comes back out, or should just accept that I’m down a spanner and buy another?

Magnet or go fishing with some wire.

Who is going to be hanging around waiting for the spanner to drop while you are driving like a maniac?

It’s a van with a tailgate. I was thinking my wife could sit in the back and look for it.

I was actually planning on just doing some jumpy starts, sharp braking in courtyard by my garage to see if it got dislodged. Nothing too serious.

Have you tried looking for its location in the day light.

Well that’s thrown a spanner in the Volks.

AA man did this on my motor, luckily for him another AA van drove by and he had one of these (though his had a screen, but did say he got it from maplins) which they used to fish it out… might be cheaper to buy another spanner, but which is more fun?

BORESCOPE!!!!!

Yes, it would be cheaper to buy another spanner, but this is the perfect opportunity to buy a borescope.

Should dislodge it…

[video]http://youtu.be/hh0VF6s-UYU[/video]

Mount a powerful magnet on the underside of the bonnet then find a hump-back bridge with a clear run up to it.

Video the results.

It’s a van with a tailgate. I was thinking my wife could sit in the back and look for it.

Brilliant.

Aldi are selling a horoscope/flexible DIY camera thing at the moment.

Mine was sitting in a groove on the top of the wishbone, you’re not alone. I dropped the engine tray which dramatically improved visibility.

Sadly, even a series of sharp stops in the courtyard and some roundabout action failed to clear the spanner, although I did hear a noise whilst going round the last one before home. I’ll go back by bike tomorrow to see if it was anything important.

To be honest, I’m more worried/concerned/interested in whether the new split charge/leisure battery setup works and keeps working than a single spanner. I can always buy another spanner.

Although there is a gap in the series on my garage wall now and the OCD part of me is telling me to strip the van down to find it.

Just hope it doesn’t find its way to any belt pulleys.

Although there is a gap in the series on my garage wall now and the OCD part of me is telling me to strip the van down to find it.

this doesnt work, youll need a 6mm spanner, then youll buy another, and have 2, this will really do your OCD head in

undo and open up the arch liner ?

See my previous post about the cassette tool I KNOW i have but can’t find. One week in with the _new_ tool and I still can’t find the old one.

Grinder, that’s my worry. Luckily I don’t think there are any belts on that side of the engine bay.

Aldi are selling a horoscope/flexible DIY camera thing at the moment.

I wondered what mystic Meg was up to these days

best to find it incase it gets jammed in something important. Try looking for it in the dark, with a powerful small white beamed torch or a bike light ( i find the actual road flashing type led’s are best ) Often easier to see things this way. Then maybe a coat hanger of something.

In general….if it’s chromed then it should be easy to see with a torch. If it’s out of sight, maybe bend a coat hanger and have a poke around in the bit’s of bodywork etc.If you bend the hanger in a ‘U’ at the end your be less likely to damage any wires etc. Just take some care not to snag and push any wiring , relays etc. You can also rock the suspension a bit, provided the bonnet is secured. Prolly best to keep the hood down for this. Also disconnect the battery first too if your poking around.

kayak23 – Member
Well that’s thrown a spanner in the Volks.

Boom, tish! 😀

Itll be sitting under the headlight

I am geting wuite the collection of snap on tools from previous owners of my cars using fancy garages who opt to leave their tools in the engine bay of my car.

Ive got a large flat head screw driver a 1/4 inch extension and a 1/4 inch drive 10mm socket so far all rusty but cleaned up nice on the wire wheel.

Usually find them on lips inside the bumper at the front of the arch liner.

I was cleaning the MAF sensor last week and I dropped the end of the two-bit screwdriver into the engine bay. My blood ran cold so I restripped all the airbox assembly etc. Eventually after removing the tray it dropped out. I’d even ran my fingers twice over through the airfilter vanes etc- imagine it’d been sucked into/gotten into the engine?

No way was I driving it until I’d found it.

OP- what if the spanner fowls in any linkage etc? Personally I’d get it to the garage ASAP and up on a ramp. Get someone with slender arms to have a good delve. I wouldn’t keep driving it until you’ve at least done this. What if its on a ‘shelf’/angled then falls into a pully/aux belt? Or suspension assembly when you need to turn?

Ok- heres a thought, cover the air intake and wrap the electrics. Tray off and jetwash down and around.