1994SEV6 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 (edited) I was changing the fluid in my front differential and I dropped a plastic cap in. I took the fill plug out first, then the drain plug. I put the drain plug back in when I was ready to refill the differential. The filler hole is at such a weird place that I had to angle the bottle of gear oil in a horrible way. I wanted to keep the blue plastic cap on until the last second when I could pop it off and let the gear oil go into the diff instead of all over my front end. Somehow the blue cap managed to pop itself into the filler hole. I removed the drain plug again and put my finger in there to get it out. I could feel it, but it was coated in oil. Every time I tried to get it with my finger it would slid out from under. I must have pushed it further away because I couldn't feel it anymore. I tried all different kinds of angles to try to feel it, but all I could feel were the gears. Wow, those things are huge. I thought maybe I could put 1/5 qt. of gear oil in to flush it out. Maybe when I drain that little bit, the cap would come sliding out. No luck. I put probably 1/3 quart in there this time and it's currently sitting. I just wanted to post my problem on here to see if there was anything I could do. Could I pour water in there until the cap comes out? I know water and oil don't mix, but it would be such a small amount of water. Could I flush some old motor old through there or something? I know the plastic cap won't do much to those big gears, but I feel soooo stupid. I can't believe I did something that stupid. I don't even know why I wanted to change the fluid in the front diff. It's not like it could have gone bad or something. I bet it has like 1,000 miles of use on it. The factory fluid did look a little tan-ish though It's just the stupid blue little cap at the top of the bottle for reference Edited December 27, 2011 by 1994SEV6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 ohh man. well it is just a plastic cap i mean those gears will probably make short work of it....but....yeah probably not the greatest idea.... maybe fashion some really long tweezers or something?? u can't feel it at all eh?? i wouldn't start pouring water in your diff....best to keep the water out of diffs.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1994SEV6 Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 ohh man. well it is just a plastic cap i mean those gears will probably make short work of it....but....yeah probably not the greatest idea.... maybe fashion some really long tweezers or something?? u can't feel it at all eh?? i wouldn't start pouring water in your diff....best to keep the water out of diffs.... yeah. water is stupid. That fill hole HAS to be at the worst spot. 10x worse than the oil filter. I'm just wondering if that cap would float in oil or stay down on the bottom If it floats, then I might have some luck trying to flush it. If it just stays on the bottom, then it probably won't be affected very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 don't use water. I would try to use or make some kind of tool... maybe just a bent up coat hanger? Probably wouldn't matter much, but I would get it out. You can get pumps to fill your diffs/transmission etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1994SEV6 Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 don't use water. I would try to use or make some kind of tool... maybe just a bent up coat hanger? Probably wouldn't matter much, but I would get it out. You can get pumps to fill your diffs/transmission etc. maybe I'll use some of that super-uber cheap gear oil and flush it out. The stuff that's no-name and like $3.50 for a quart.. 7-11 special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Get a pc of rubber hose that just fits in thru the hole and tape it to a shop vac hose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncivilian Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 My PCV valve broke in half when I was removing the lower intake manifold since I forgot to unclip the hose clamp and move the hose for the valve itself. We tried to use pliers to get the chunk of valve out but it slipped through into the valve cover. I had to finger my engine for like 15 minutes to get all the chunks out. I'd say that was stupider. If only plastic were magnetic. I'd say BowTied's suggestion would probably work the best. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverton Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I had to finger my engine for like 15 minutes QFT. I imagine doing this is probably about as bad as doing the rear diff on a RWD car. you might try warming the diff fluid before you dump it in to "flush out" the cap. the fluid will flow easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM240831037P?sid=IDx20070921x00003a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=SPM209385941 Other than that, do what you can with tweezers or whatever, but if it stays in, fill the rear with the right amount of cheap oil, drive for 100 miles and change it.... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Compressed air? Maybe you could blow hard enough that it would pop back into view at least. I'd probably bend up a piece of wire and fish around with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headpeace Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 maybe take the fill plug and the drain plug out, get one of those tiny maglites and try to see in there and fish it out with a wire clothes hanger or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
918pathy Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I wonder if jacking up the oppisit side of the drain plug and see if rolls or floats toward the drain plug hole, i dont know if it would work but maybe gravity will work for you 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lint Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Fill it with oil, drive and forget about it for now. Deal with it during your next oil change. After all, plastic is a petroleum product. That plastic cap won't clog anything once it gets all mushed up by the gears. That's what I'd do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1994SEV6 Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 Fill it with oil, drive and forget about it for now. Deal with it during your next oil change. After all, plastic is a petroleum product. That plastic cap won't clog anything once it gets all mushed up by the gears. That's what I'd do. generally I'd agree. But I have that feeling that I just did something soooo stupid that it's my obligation to fix it. Usually, it's the trucks fault that something bad happens. If I'm trying to fix something and the space is too tight for a wrench, or a bolt breaks or whatever THAT'S then I say F it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Screw it...a trail fix is using a zip lock bag to drain all of ure fluid in if u need to drain it for some reason to fix something....then throw the bag back in the differential and let it grind the bag away...never done it and I think it applies more on rear covered different where u don't have to pull the center Chunk but same philosophy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1994SEV6 Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 Screw it...a trail fix is using a zip lock bag to drain all of ure fluid in if u need to drain it for some reason to fix something....then throw the bag back in the differential and let it grind the bag away...never done it and I think it applies more on rear covered different where u don't have to pull the center Chunk but same philosophy That's actually a good idea, but why would you ever have to drain your fluid out only to put it right back in a few seconds later? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 That plastic cap won't bother anything, it will get grinded up like someone said already. Next time pick up a short length of clear tubing and push it onto the bottle's "nipple" and use that to put in the fill hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 If u snap an axle shaft on the trail you may have to pull the diff cover (like I said not as easy on a h233b) but in a Chevy or ford or someone running d44s u may not have fluid and need to remove axle axle shafts or get debris out if a shaft has snapped and u may have a spare shaft but no spare fluid... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlBlue Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Bummer,if you are looking at pumping a bunch more fluid in, many outboard motor gear oil bottles comes with a pump with a hose and nozzle on it. The cap fits most regular gear oil bottles for future use. Unfortunately,I have no new ideas on how you can get that out or the outcome of leaving it in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejin4499 Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 shop vac (that's on its last legs anyway) to the drain hole, dw40 to thin out the oil and flush the cap to the drain port so the shop vac can suck it out. Flush the dw40 out with cheap gear oil then put the good stuff in. You might also just use compressed air in through the fill port with the shop vac pulling from the drain port to make a wind tunnel effect to move that crap out. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismothunder Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 *snitcher* *points* ha-ha. Dumb ass. *throws can of Rolling Rock at computer* Not really a mega, life shortening problem. Drive it so it chews the cap up then drain the fluid. Whats so hard, its not like the gears are gonna be hurt by $.0003 of polystyreen or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daver123 Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I'm putting in another vote for the don't worry about it clan. If you dropped it in your engine this would be a different story, but there is nothing in your diff that will be harmed by this at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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