How screwed am I?

[v34l]

I had to replace my coolant expansion tank, and was pulling up the clip that holds the heater return line hose from the bottom of the tank. I pulled a little too hard on the clip and it went flying, and have no idea where it is. I got everything back together and bled the cooling system on a battery charger, I moved the car back a few feet to see if it landed on the ground, and it is nowhere to be found. I was going to change out my Mickey Mouse flange too, but I don't want two places of failure and am just going to have my dealership install it.

I am trying to find just the clip, and don't want to buy a whole new hose. This is my daily driver too and I need to go to work. I have an appointment to get my oil changed on Tuesday and with that comes the bazillion points inspection. Is it safe to drive 12 or so miles round trip?

How screwed am I?

[healeydays]

Maybe get a magnet on a stick and scan the whole area and you might get lucky and pick it up.

[v34l]

I lucked out. I drove the car to the dealer, they installed the clip and the flange for an hour of labor on top of the oil change. I figured it was a wash, because the hose would have been $140.

[v34l]

Originally Posted by healeydays

Maybe get a magnet on a stick and scan the whole area and you might get lucky and pick it up.

Well I had planned to put my car on jack stands and pull the skidplates off, but my son used my jack last and now it doesn't work. I tried a magnet but couldn't get in as far as I would have liked.

It's all gooder now. Got the winter tires put on tonight before the snow flies on Sunday.