Antony,
I am not sure if it will cause any damage. I guess it depends on the size.
But if it is still in the tank, you might use a turkey baster or something
similar to suck it up. I know the feeling. I recently replaced the water
pump on my '90 Westy and thought I had lost a washer inside the engine or
one of the exposed coolant pipes. Looked for it for a long time before I
finally looked at the old water pump and realized there had never been a
washer on that particular stud.
Jerry
----- Original Message -----
From: "ajw" <rompu@MHONLINE.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2000 5:43 PM
Subject: coolant and piece of tin

> Well, off to a flying start here in Hudson NY.
>
> Topping off the coolant I watched amazed as a small piece of the tin
> seal from the coolant container came loose and went into the coolant
> tank.  After fishing around for a while blindly with a piece of wire to
> try and fish it out I decided it might be better to ask whether it's a
> problem or not.  So - will this destroy my engine or is it ok not to
> worry about it?
>
> thanks
>
>
> Antony Widoff
>