Thanks for the advice guys... as of right now, I am planning to pull the pan & tray off tonight. I hope that my pan gaskets can be reused.
Now... if I still cant find the washer after dis-assembly, I will button it up and pretend that the whole thing never happened.
pseronally, i would give it at least a quick try to get it down into the pan and drain out with the oil. you have to drain the oil anyway, a little time to give it a try could save you removing the pan.
may be a good idea, at the very least, to rotate the engine by hand, as the washer may be sitting on the crank/rods.
