just dropped a little spring into the radiator - what now?

i was just replacing my radiator cap with a new one and as i took the old one off, the insides all came apart & the little spring that was under the cap went into the radiator & sunk into the water

am i goosed or is there a nice little mechanism to stop it finding it's way round the engine & into the water pump or something?

i had to drive it a few miles to get home too

Magnetic pick-up tool?

Couple of quid at nearest harware store. Invaluable.

it cant have dropped far, only in the end tanks

Don't worry too much , it will only sit in the header tank or get stuck in the stat.(at least you will know where the little bu**er is then)

At least that's the way i see it, anybody else got ideas?

Dave

i was just replacing my radiator cap with a new one and as i took the old one off, the insides all came apart & the little spring that was under the cap went into the radiator & sunk into the water

 

am i goosed or is there a nice little mechanism to stop it finding it's way round the engine & into the water pump or something?

 

i had to drive it a few miles to get home too

if it was me, i would take out the rad, put a magnet in into the top tank where the top hose goes, then shake F$%k out the rad on it's side and see if you can get the spring to work it's way accross the tank and end up on the magnet.

or you could anways wait a few years and let the spring rot away from natural causes

clunk , clink , clunk,braaaaaaaaaabooom .... empty your rad and get the spring out.

It'll be fine in there and won't get past the thermostat.

many thanks for the replies chaps

Pete, i like yours best it's the most confident! are you 100% on this? i was thinking of getting one of those telescopic magnetic tools & seeing if i could fish it out for piece of mind really & not drive it any more until then. i've got access to another car while my mum is away on holiday so it doesn't need to go anywhere

thanks again all for your replies

yeah the thermostate plugs the whole pipe before the waterpump and wont let anything through (apart from liquid and very very small bits) and is fairly easy to get at

it wont even get past the rad core core?

so it will be in the end tank, well, top tank, just get a bendy magnetic retrieval tool

I think the spring is stainless steel, and none magnetic. Don't start the engine, remove the rad and rattle it out if you feel unlucky.

I did the same about 3 months ago. Not caused any problems so far.

Due to the direction nof coolant flow it should stay within the radiator top tank. If it does escape the thermostat doesn't open far enough to let it pass into the water pump. So you should be fine

thanks all, feel a bit better about it now. already sourced a magnetic pickup tool in the meantime so i'll give that a try, just in case it is magnetic & within range!

think i'll get some of that 4Life & flush the radiator anyway since i've replaced the knackered cap & had bubbling in the expansion tank/empty expansion tank so hopefully it will turn up then