Long story short, I was installing a new water pump in my Honda, and as I went to screw in one of the screws to secure the new pump, the screw slipped from my hand and fell into the timing cover. It's resting on the crankshaft about 18" down. I can SEE it but can't reach down inside to get it because the timing cover is on, and I CAN'T remove the timing cover without taking the whole darn crankshaft off, which I don't have the tools to do even if i wanted to. My hand is too big to fit in the tiny space. How can I get this screw out?! I can't finish the repair and put everything back together until I get this screw out. I was thinking to get some long pincers or Really long salad tongs or something like that. Or maybe gluing a small magnet to the end of a stick and hoping it will suck up the screw. This is driving me nuts!
The photo below shows pretty much what I'm working with. The only difference is my timing belt is off the cams so that part is loose, and on my engine the lower timing cover is still on. The screw is sitting between the loose timing belt & crank.
Please spare me the inevitable snide comments, the screw slipped before I knew it.
Added (1). I thought about inserting a rod of some sort with something sticky at the end, so I taped a few plastic drinking straws together and put a wad of packing tape at the end in the hope that the screw would stick to it, but it didn't.
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How to retrieve a screw that fell deep inside the timing cover?
