Broken screwdriver in flywheel

[higgnoid]

While trying to remove the crankshaft pulley (a la Haynes Manual) I encountered the following problem:

The screwdriver I had wedged in the ring gear teeth of the flywheel snapped as I torqued on the bolt for the crankshaft pulley. The bottom part of the broken screwdriver (the part that was wedged in the flywheel) slipped down behind the flywheel and is nowhere to be seen. Any ideas how to get the piece of metal out?

[WoodsWagon]

Next time, just put the car in 4th,if its a manual. See if you can hook it with a magenet. If not, you may have to pull the engine. That would suck.

[chef_tim]

There's nothing for it to catch on, it should be down in the pan under the F/W. I'd just listen over the F/W the first time you start it. A metalic screaching sound would be a good indicator that it was hung up on something. If there is no noise, let it be. Later, Tim

[XSNRG]

You could remove the dust cover under the flywheel and it may fall out.

[baccaruda]

you can rotate the FW by ratcheting the crank pulley (clockwise only!) with a 22mm socket, in case it's hung up in there somewhere.

[gravelRX]

Just walked outside to see if i had the old flywheel handy, but I must have put it somewhere. IIRC, The holes go into the pressure plate/clutch area. I wouldn't try to start the engine with it in there, bad things could happen. I recommend turning the assembly over with a socket and going from there.

 

Sat. night,

 

 

Jay

[ByTheSea]

Probably worth finding the screwdriver chunk before starting up. Of course the small piece of punch that broke off in mine didn't seem to matter but I'm not positive that it went in. It was a little sudden. To get the crank pully off you could use my patented method of putting a 1/2" Craftsman drive on the deep socket and whaling the end with a rubber mallet. It may spring back and someone once suggested it was unsafe but Iv'e been using that technique for a quile and still have all my teeth intact. The principle is that you can't get all the mass of the crank pistons and flywheel moving suddenlly( An object at rest tends to stay at rest ) but the energy has to go somewhere so the nut spins while the crank mostly stays still. Proceed with caution. LOL

[GeneralDisorder]

Crank the engine over - if it makes weird noises, then do something about it - otherwise don't bother. I've encountered all kinds of random junk the bell-housing on disasembly - there's usually an oil/dirt sludge down there that will trap it. Don't worry yourself over it.

 

GD

[bratman2]

I agree with the Chief on this one, snapped the end of the biggest Craftsman screw driver I have in my daughters 93 Legacy doing the timing belts 7k ago. She is still driving it with no issues.

[aba4430]

There is a sheet metal pan on the underside of the housing. I just did my clutch, but do not remember whether the two bolts go from the underneath of the car to secure it. A quick look will confirm this. If so, see if you can undo these bolts and remove the sheet metal plate (the flywheel bottom may prevent this, am not sure). If the piece was real small, then you may be able to pry it out (unless there is not much clearance between the flywheel & disc) or it will not matter as it will just be sitting there. It had to have fallen on the transmission side, between the flywheel & disc. However, like many have said, rotate the crankshaft manually and see whether the there are any scraping/grinding noises. If none and you have tried some things, would not worry.....

 

Regards,

aba4430

[chef_tim]

As long as it was in the ring gear it should have fallen into the bottom pan. Tim