Is it possible for a valve keeper to get to the pan? 603
 

I found a valve keeper in my oil pan and I'm trying to figure out where it came from. On a 603 it seems impossible to me that it fell off the valve and ended up in the oil pan. Is that true or is there a way a keeper could get to the pan from the valve?

It can on any engine...they all have drainback paths for the oil and thats how it gets there.

Damn! Guess I'm pulling the cam. :rifle: Thanks.

Did you lose more or something? other than the spares you found?

Hang on to those....the undamaged ones.....If you ever do valve seals its real easy to lose even one......

But reading again I see where you are going with this.....Yes I think its a good idea to check.....dropping a valve would be a very bad thing....at least you will know if all yours (all 24) are accounted for and can sleep peacefully knowing it was dropped in the distant past.

Nope, only found the one half, I was just trying to see if I could get away with not removing the cam. I prefer the sleeping good at night method though.

I'm going to bet you find all of them in place...however it is possible to have only one holding it together for a while...some cars would allow that while others it would seperate almost immediately...better to be safe than sorry when you find "spare parts"...

I once assembled an engine...right before I put oil in it and fired it up I found 1/2 a connecting rod bearing...a new one....so off came the pan to find where it belonged.....

Motto is always look carefully when in doubt. Make no assumptions.

I got the cam out and all the keepers are still there, I guess the one I found was an extra. Of course now I can't get the cam back in because the cam gear dropped down. Learning the hard way is the only way for me. :rifle:

we all have days like that sooner or later.....hang in there...you will laugh at all of this soon enough.

Thanks for the encouragement, I'll be laughing once I figure out why the cam gear won't come back up. Actually, I'll laugh as long as I didn't screw anything else up too bad. The guys at the parts store are joking about how I'm paying for their cruise next summer. At least someone is laughing. :sword2:

My fourth term Latin students used to quote Vergil's _Aeneid_:
 

Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit! -- "Maybe someday it'll be a pleasure to remember even these things!"