Last night, while I was changing my valve cover gasket, I noticed a small piece of squeezed out gasket maker hanging off the side of the vavle cover area. So I go to grab it with a pair of pliers to remove the old gasket maker material, and a tiny bit (about the size of a pencil tip, really small.) drops inside the belt cover area. I searched forever with a flashlight and mirror, but couldn't find it. Is it safe to leave that tiny piece inside? Will it somehow get lodged in between the teeth of the timing belt and just grind itself away harmlessly? Or should I remove the lower belt cover and search until I find it? Or am I just freaking out over nothing? Any insight would be appreciated, and thanks in advanced!

 

I wouldn't worry about it. It probably fell all the way to the bottom of the timing cover.