i lost a rod!!

i was changing the head gasket on a 1976 ford maverick four door straight 6 250 and my brother was helping we were re assembling it and he put the second to last push rod in at an angle and straightened it up and when he let go it just disappeared. i pulled the head and have no idea where it could have gone. the lifters are still there and i don't see any place for it to have fallen, i really need help. i just bought it bc my car was stolen and now this one is down and I'm stumped. is there any one who has had this problem that can help?

 

Welcome to the Forum!!!

 

maybe, push rod went into the oil galley return between Cyl 5 /6, or look underneath the car?.

if in oil return galley?. could it drop into crankcase ?

250

 

been too many years.. but with the length of the pushrods it seems doubtful as it would need to be pretty well dead straight to make the angle off the heads pushrod hole into the galley/pan? You'd think it would have made a more pronounced sound sliding all the way down into the pan?

Probably easy enough to pull the pan first but still might need to pull the head if that easier route doesn't pan out. No pun intended.

 

...

 

Welcome to the forum from Florida!
it could have fallen all the way down into the oil pan, there are passages open on both ends and in the middle of the block.

tap on the oil pan with something wooden like a hammer handle and see if you hear it klink or rattle.
if it fell in the pan, you are lucky because you can pull the pan without pulling the motor.
it also could have gone down into the cam valley and is just hiding. look around by the distributor gear
make sure you follow the head de-torque and re-torque steps carefully, if you do it wrong, you can crack or warp the head, and they are getting hard to find.

 

I pulled the head and see nothing. I am going to try the taping method before I pull the oil pan. I jus don't see how it got down there.

 

I appreciate the help guys. A simple head gasket change that should have taken a few hours is now a 2 week headache. If it's in the oil pan is it possible to pull it through the drain plug with a flex mag? Will it fit? If it is not in the oil pan what is my next step?

 

Are there technical drawings of this engine I can download?

 

Unless oil is drained you'll never hear it...

 

Oil was drained

 

... still hard to believe a pushrod would fall through galley. Looking down the galley drains, you may see rod if it really went down galley. Fuel Pump removal gives oil pan access for a mechanics 'magnet on a stick' . I retrieved a few Distributor / Oil Pump - Hex Driveshafts' from Oil Pan after shaft dropped into oil pan when dizzy was pulled.

Ford=Better Idea:
.. how many unfortunates' pulled the six' distributor, unknowingly shaft dropped into pan, started engine with no Oil pressure knock and/or a crunching sound before it stopped ...

have fun

 

Extendable magnet works well. Start fishing each hole you may get lucky.

 

.. This really got me wondering: .. . I have a disassembled 250 on a stand, I easily 'dropped' a pushrod down the oil galley hole between 5 and 6 cyl's. then was actually able to fish it out with a mechanics' magnet stick through the distributor casting hole . BUT, the Cam is out of the engine, I still don't know if it's possible with cam in place.

have fun

 

I think I may have found it stuck in the oil return by 6. I can't pull it with a