Oh boy, what should I do?

[Hoosierman]

Replacing valve cover gaskets. Dropped one of those spreaders into what appears to be a hole between the exhaust manifold and spark plug opening (don't know how else to put it), and almost immediately lost a bolt in the other side's rockers- no clue where it went. The worm magnet that I have is literally useless because the magnet is too large to fit anywhere. Advice would be appreciated.

 

[franklin2]

Make sure to look good on the ground. It may have bounced out. I am assuming the problem is the bolt, and you got the spreader out?

 

[Hoosierman]

Well, I think I can get the bolt if I go gently. But the spreader appears to be gone.

Okay, let's say I can't get it back (not likely, just bear with me), is there an acceptable substitute for these? Can I fashion something out of washer for the time being?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

If I'm picturing the spreader correctly, make sure the lower bolt holes have one. Put where the missing one would go up top, less likely to want to leak oil.

 

[SenorNoob]

Spreaders are available as aftermarket too. Whether any of them will fit without mods is another question

 

[Hoosierman]

That's about what I figured. I totally forgot that magnetizes were a thing and I magnetized a long flathead screwdriver that helped fish out the bolt. Still can't

 

[Curious Hound]

Turn the engine upside-down and shake it vigorously over a white sheet so you see hen the thing falls out.

 

[Hoosierman]

I'll just get right on that!

 

[franklin2]

You certainly can use a washer if you think the spreader fell to a safe place. Just don't over do tightening the bolt, and then you can order a universal spreader, I am sure you can get it to work with a little grinding here or there. Then you can take the washer out, put the new spreader in place, and put a little more pressure on the bolt.

Not sure how many times you have done this procedure, but after a couple weeks running it, you should go in with a nut driver and snug the bolts down again, the gasket tends to shrink. A month or two later you can check them again and then they should be good to go, if you have a 2.9 it's pretty much impossible to keep them from leaking for very long.

 

[Hoosierman]

Thank you, I have never done this before and going in later after running the vehicle for a bit makes sense. On that note, is it important to drive because of the pressure that the engine generates? Or is time more important? I won't be driving this truck very much this year due to having other things that need done to it, plus I'm working on other projects at the same time.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

It would be the heat cycles that would generate expansion cycles. Engine heats up, things expand, crushing gaskets. Gaskets don't fully go back to original thickness. After several heat cycles snug up bolts. My SWAG would be about 6 cycles. Then repeat every 6 cycles until the torque needed stays the same.

 

[Hoosierman]

I appreciate that tidbit!

I never did find that spreader piece. So, I ordered some universal ones intending to modify one to fit. I guess these things are handy to have around.