So Tuesday morning before work just after gettin my exhaust installed in my 99 sedan I heard a abrupt rattle coming from the engine, it stopped and came back again a few times within a five minute period. I had no choice but to dive to work, I got to work after babying it, popped the hood and noticed a broken valve cover bolt, shortly after work was done me and a buddy pulled the valve cover to look for pieces of the broken bolt didn't find nothing in the valve train, motor is a d series 1.6 non vtec there is a oil gallery hole that drops down to the bottom end right beside where this bolt broke, has anyone ever had one of these shitty valve cover bolts break and have peices end up down below ? I put a big magnet and it stopped the rattle, so I decide to drain the oil and try and use the magnet from the outside of the oil pan to get it out with no victory, I started the car back up with new oil and filter and the magnet on the pan, the noise came back and I haven't started the car since out of frustration. I need to get a gasket and drop the pan I know this, but the noise get a little more noticable with the clutch pressed in All the way, why would this be? Where else could the debris end up? My guess as to why it stops and starts is the crank is sucking it up into rotating parts and it makes noise then it falls to the pan and becomes quiet then gets sucked up again, has anyone else ever witness this? Car runs fine no lack of power or hesitations. noise was only at idle or low revs. I was hoping my first post here wouldn't have to be something like this..

 

Yup, just pull the pan. If you're lucky its just sitting there politely waiting to be grabbed.

I dropped a socket once and it luckily just slid on down to the pan.

 

What size socket!? Lol that oil hole that goes downward to the bottom end I seen looked smaller then .25 of an inch, I for every bolt I need to tackle soaked in on blaster as we speak tomorrow morning I'm gunna hopefully at least get the pan off before work and by a stroke of some magic and luck it just might be as I expect stuck to the magnetized pan, thanks to a heavy 5 pound magnet