Valve Cover Gasket & Tune Up... Minus One Nut (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Nov 18, 2019
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Location
Virginia
Hey all!

Did my valve cover gasket, half moons, spark plugs, spark plug wires, spark plug seals, distributor cap, distributor rotor, and distributor O ring today. Feels like I got hit by a train but mission complete🍻—almost.

At the very end of assembling everything, of course, I dropped a nut attached to the throttle/accelerator/transmission cable housing. I have no idea what dimension it traveled to, but I can’t find it. Ironically, I didn’t even need to remove it in the first place, but I was wrenching around to try and find how to get the throttle body off (stupid, I know, but this is my first rodeo with anything engine related). I’ve been searching around, but does anyone know what this nut is, if there’s a suitable common substitute, and if I’m safe to drive without it?

2BA7D774-2467-4B82-B8A6-A12115EF36A8.jpeg
 
I wouldnt drive without it..... This is a perfect example of why I keep a random assortment of hardware on hand.

You could try to find another nut from somewhere else on the truck to replace it until you can get to a hardware store and buy a new nut.

Another idea is to take something similar in size to the missing nut like a nickle or something and recreate the drop scenario while paying attention to where the pseudo nut falls. This technique has worked for me a few times, it can give you a pretty good idea of where the lost nut went.
 
I can't tell you how many hours I've lost over the years hunting for that one little part I dropped that rolled away or got lodged somewhere difficult. At least it's not something unique and irreplaceable. As the other poster said, find another nut from elsewhere. Looks like it could be an M6? Not sure if metric hardware is rare or common stateside, but hopefully you have access to a store or box of bits you can raid. If you're really in a jam, look for a less important one somewhere else on the car! ;)
 
I wouldnt drive without it..... This is a perfect example of why I keep a random assortment of hardware on hand.

You could try to find another nut from somewhere else on the truck to replace it until you can get to a hardware store and buy a new nut.

Another idea is to take something similar in size to the missing nut like a nickle or something and recreate the drop scenario while paying attention to where the pseudo nut falls. This technique has worked for me a few times, it can give you a pretty good idea of where the lost nut went.
Use a magnet on a flexible rod. They cost about 7 to 9 bucks and save me more often than I like to admit. Seems clear to me you need the nut. Either find the old or use another. Possibly 10 or 12 mm?

If there is any reason to suspect you dropped the nut down an oil passage while the cover was open, stop and get professional advice. I wouldn't start the engine if that's the case. If it's just fallen into a suspension component or underbelly pan you're ok. Get the magnet and fish around. With a little patience, you'll probably find it.
 
I wouldnt drive without it..... This is a perfect example of why I keep a random assortment of hardware on hand.

You could try to find another nut from somewhere else on the truck to replace it until you can get to a hardware store and buy a new nut.

Another idea is to take something similar in size to the missing nut like a nickle or something and recreate the drop scenario while paying attention to where the pseudo nut falls. This technique has worked for me a few times, it can give you a pretty good idea of where the lost nut we
Unfortunately my handy box of random hardware didn’t come in so handy this time. Totally agree, I’m a hoarder of random nuts and bolts😂

I also had instinctively tried dropping a similar nut in the same spot. No luck helping me find the missing nut.

Also, luckily everything was put together by the time I dropped it. It’s just in a tricky spot and I was not about to take everything apart again just to get one damn nut.

At this point I’m crossing my fingers that someone knows the actual thread pitch and size of this little guy, or perhaps a part number. I have an FSM but haven’t been able to locate this specific part just yet. If nothing else I might just drop by the local hardware store and get a handful of metric nuts in the hopes that one will work in a pinch.

Amazing what chaos a $0.36 part can wreak
 
I think it's an M6 from eyeballing it, which would be 10mm across with a 1mm pitch. If you're ok to post a VIN, I could check it out. You know, from memory. I totally don't have the Toyota EPC software with a complete set of parts catalogs on my computer or anything.
 
I think it's only available as part of the complete throttle body assembly. I agree it's probably m6-1.00 nut.
There is an 10mm ratcheting wrench sitting in limbo on top of my bell housing or something.... Whenever I work towards the back of the engine I now clip a string to my tools!
 
I think it's an M6 from eyeballing it, which would be 10mm across with a 1mm pitch. If you're ok to post a VIN, I could check it out. You know, from memory. I totally don't have the Toyota EPC software with a complete set of parts catalogs on my computer or anything.

I aspire to this level of Land Cruiser commitment😂

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Thanks as well for the estimation of the pitch—helps narrow down the buckets and buckets of hardware over at the store
 
As @Njck22 predited, that particular nut isn't listed separately from the throttle assembly:
ThrottleAssembly.png

So the parts catalog isn't any help. Still, I'm quite confident it's an M6. If you have another bolt with a 1mm pitch you can confirm that by checking if the threads fit together. They don't have to be the same size for that to work. If you have calipers you could measure the thread too to see how wide it is, that's something you can look up. Or just go to the hardware store and get an M6 and a few other second guesses and hope one of them is right!
 
As @Njck22 predited, that particular nut isn't listed separately from the throttle assembly:
View attachment 2605761
So the parts catalog isn't any help. Still, I'm quite confident it's an M6. If you have another bolt with a 1mm pitch you can confirm that by checking if the threads fit together. They don't have to be the same size for that to work. If you have calipers you could measure the thread too to see how wide it is, that's something you can look up. Or just go to the hardware store and get an M6 and a few other second guesses and hope one of them is right!
Okay so one, I’m not crazy, this was hard to find, and two, thank you, you’re a legend.

Off to the hardware store then. Thank you guys!
 

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