Worst nightmare.. dropping/missing valve collet...

[vrooom]

I seem to drop those valve collect down the oil galleries on my toyota mr2 3SGE engine whilst doing valve stem seal replacement.

Can oil drain flush those small bit and hopefully stick to drain plug or It is buy new engine time?

[DVandrews]

It's not uncommon for small pieces of debris to be present in the sump, in most engines the oil pickup has a mesh strainer which will filter out anything as large as a collet.

It depends exactly where you dropped the collet, if it is down an oil drain holemthen it will likely have found it's way into the sump, however if you have dropped it into the void around the valve/spring seat it could interfere with the springs and cause a problem or two. If it is in the sump, the chances are it will do o harm.

Dave

[S7Paul]

I'm not sure why you think it may be time for a new engine. I assume you haven't started it since dropping the collet? I think I'd be doing whatever is necessary to retrieve the collet.

Start with the easy stuff - using a small inspection light to look in all the nooks & crannies to see if it's just dropped into somewhere that's reachable with tweezers or a small magnet.

If that fails, the next easiest place to look is the sump. After that, it's more major surgery!

[vrooom]

Thank god i managed to fished it out with magnet tip.

[S7Paul]

Well done. It's a huge relief when something like that happens and you manage to just fish it out without taking everything to bits. We've all been there!

[theshrew]

I've done it myself real face palm moment.

At least you got it out without to much trouble.