I was having trouble earlier in the week with my car (95 prelude vtec) sounding strange... took the valve cover off and began to adjust the valves only to find that one of the intake valves was MISSING the adjustment locking nut... couldn't buy one anywhere I looked so I had a dealer order one and waited 3 days to get it... well I got it today, and DROPPED it while I was trying to put it on... it appears to have fallen into one of the oil drain channels below the valves, I looked around the valves and used a magnet to try to find it up there. I jacked up the front end and drained the oil. Then I poured a bunch of oil down the area where the nut seemed to fall. I didn't figure that it would wash out of the drain hole in the oil pan and it didn't... I am now considering dropping the oil pan to try to locate BOTH the original missing nut and the new missing nut. What are the odds that it's in the pan, and will the pan come off with the exhaust down pipe in place or do I have to drop the exhaust as well to get the pan off.... this is getting to be a big ******* project and I am growing short on patience.... maybe I should just order another (TWO) nut and forget about the others, but I don't like thinking that they are somewhere in the engine and could cause future problems.... SOMEONE PLEASE SUGGEST SOMETHING OR AT LEAST REASSURE ME THAT I'M NOT TOTALLY SCREWED.

 

Don't sweat it, same thing happened to me 5,000 miles ago. I drained the oil pan, and to no avail.

 

what did you end up doing... I'm hoping to find the damn thing(s) so I don't have to wait another week to get another one... and if I do, I'm ordering 3