Hello hello.
This is one of those posts you don't want to write, but I figured I should get some advice before I procede. First some history of the problem I was trying to fix on my '94 Chevy Caprice with the LT1 engine and 166k miles:
I've had a lot of trouble with what I can only figure is a vacuum leak in recent months that I've not been able to track down. The computer complains of high manifold pressure (almost atmospheric at idle) intermittantly. I've replaced numberous bits and pieces, but so far no luck. This weekend I decided to replace the intake manifold gaskets, hoping this might do the trick. Of course, in the process I seem to have done more harm than good.
When I was actually physically removing the intake manifold, something fell from it (I think, not sure where) and landed in the V. I picked it up, but couldn't figure out where the hell is could have come from or what it might be. Here's a picture:
So now for the problem...after getting it all back last night, I let is sit overnight for the RTV to cure. Upon cranking it up today, it started right away and idled fine for maybe five seconds, before it shut down like the ignition had been turned off. When I cranked it back up, it was very rough and started making metallic pinging sounds, like a ball bearing bouncing around one of the cylinders... I turned it off right away, and when I restarted a few seconds later it did the same thing. Switched it off and came in side to think.
Apart from the incident with the mysterious extra bit, there was one other incident that worried me during the "operation". At one point, I broke the EGR control solenoid while trying to remove it, and a few pieces fell out over the top of the manifold. This was after the injectors had been removed, so there were open holes nearby...I thought I found all the pieces, but it is possible that something fell into one of the cylinders via an injector hole.
Unless someone recognizes the extra piece and thinks it explains the nasty noises, I guess I should pull the head and see if I was right about the piece falling in. Any one care to guess what the odds are of not causing serious damage? Any one have any ideas here? This whole thing is rather embarassing, seems everytime I touch the thing lately it winds up worse than when I started.
Thanks, Harry