Lost something driving down the road...

I was out for a drive this morning, and heard a sound like I ran over a small piece of sheet metal or metal car part. I was keeping a good watch on the road, and hadn't seen anything, so I was concerned it was something off my car... it sounded like I might have lost my front prancing horse and run over it, or something similar to that size.

I had the opportunity to safely pull into a parking lot a couple of blocks later, and looked all around the outside of my car, and nothing appeared to be missing, so I presumed it was merely something I'd run over but hadn't seen.

Well, I washed the car this afternoon, and when I lifted the front hood, the pin holding the expanding hood-keeper rod was loose and the rod was just hanging there. What I had lost earlier was the nut and two washers that hold the pin (which is actually a special bolt). It sure had been loud as it bounced around through the front compartment and under the car when I was driving earlier! Thankfully, since the pin was still there, all I had to do was make a trip to Lowes and pick up a couple of washers and a nylon-insert metric nut and it's good as new (or at least good as old).

It's one of those things you'd never expect to vibrate loose. That front hood has been off probably a half-dozen times over the car's 22 years, the last time being about 2 years ago, so maybe it wasn't put back together quite as tightly as it should have been. Using the nylon-insert nut now should keep it from happening again.

 

glad you were able to find a replacement

 

I have put a lot of nylock hexes into my car, it cannot hurt!

 

Thank god it wasn't anything more serious.

 

I can't believe you actually heard a nut fall off your car, over the sound of the engine. Boy, are you in tune with your 308 and have a great set of ears.