Dropped cam pin down head...help

[Cubieman]

That is encouraging! Yours was way up front, mine is a bit further back (cyl. 2 ish) however mine may be up on top of the baffle.

On a side note, could someone please measure the length of just the metal portion of the timing pin so I have a rough idea of the size that broke off. Thanks in advance.

[Mspir3d]

I feel the odds of it breaking that cover and making it down the hole are pretty slim. It would have to be the perfect angle and an inelastic collision for it to continue down after having broke the cover. I’ve seen weirder things happen though. At least the oil pan is not steel.

[dj1911]

This has saved my bacon more than once

[ATB88]

That is encouraging! Yours was way up front, mine is a bit further back (cyl. 2 ish) however mine may be up on top of the baffle.

On a side note, could someone please measure the length of just the metal portion of the timing pin so I have a rough idea of the size that broke off. Thanks in advance.

Mine measures 2.25" from where the narrow part of the pin meets the thick metal part on the handle. Gl man, this would drive me insane. But it's probably not as bad you think.

[Cubieman]

Mine measures 2.25" from where the narrow part of the pin meets the thick metal part on the handle. Gl man, this would drive me insane. But it's probably not as bad you think.

Thanks! And yes I'm driven insane thinking about dropping the pan and it not even being in there.
I will def. inspect the head area thoroughly before dropping the pan, ugh.

I imagine high speed camera footage would show the pin ejecting out of the bottom of the camshaft directly impacting the plastic separator, breaking it, then bouncing up and then comming back down in such an angle to allow it go down the hell hole.

Wow, if its 2.25" I've got a damn big piece of metal down there.

[sapote]

Is there any passages on top of the head (other than the spark plugs holes) that would allow the broken metal piece to get anywhere except the pan?

No. Look into the valve springs too, but first try out to see if the remain broken pin could get in between the spring turns. Be patient; I once tried to find a head bolt washer and it took me a long time to locate the thing hidden between a spring and the wall.

[eacmen]

Concur. I lost a shim once and it took me an hour to find it with a strong magnet pickup tool. There are lots of places to hide within the head. Is it possible it flew out of the head into the garage? Maybe time for a deep clean of the engine bay and garage?

Measured my pin, 2.5 inches, photo below.

[sapote]

How far was the crank turned when you realized the broken pin? 1/4 or 1/2 turns? The missing broken pin must be 1" long at least and and 4 or 5" from the broken grate, so I don't think it could bounce high and fell on the floor. Since it was almost vertical and aligned right above that broken plastic grate screen, I think as soon as the crank was turned CW, less than 1/8 turns, the pin broke when the cam turned CW 1/16 turns and so it fell right onto the broken grate and down the hole into the pan before the cam turning any further. If not in the pan it should be laying near the cam hole instead of bouncing anywhere far distance.

[Cubieman]

Concur. I lost a shim once and it took me an hour to find it with a strong magnet pickup tool. There are lots of places to hide within the head. Is it possible it flew out of the head into the garage? Maybe time for a deep clean of the engine bay and garage?

Measured my pin, 2.5 inches, photo below.

Definitely possible, that seems like such a huge piece to fall down there. However that hole for the pin is directly over the top of the hole with the broken plastic separator.

[heinzboehmer]

Definitely possible, that seems like such a huge piece to fall down there. However that hole for the pin is directly over the top of the hole with the broken plastic separator.

Might be a dumb suggestion, but are you sure it's not in the cam still?

[Cubieman]

How far was the crank turned when you realized the broken pin? 1/4 or 1/2 turns? The missing broken pin must be 1" long at least and and 4 or 5" from the broken grate, so I don't think it could bounce high and fell on the floor. Since it was almost vertical and aligned right above that broken plastic grate screen, I think as soon as the crank was turned CW, less than 1/8 turns, the pin broke when the cam turned CW 1/16 turns and so it fell right onto the broken grate and down the hole into the pan before the cam turning any further. If not in the pan it should be laying near the cam hole instead of bouncing anywhere far distance.

I don't think I turned the crank even 1/16th after it broke. I heard/felt it the moment that happened and stopped what I was doing immediately.

[Cubieman]

Might be a dumb suggestion, but are you sure it's not in the cam still?

Definitely checked that, unfortunately not the case. Like sapote said that hole in the cam the pin was in is right over the hole in question and that broken grate says it definitely made contact at/near the hole. I just hope since it's such a big piece (hopefully 1 piece) it will give me a chance at getting it out without dropping the pan.

[mrgizmo04]

Ouch. Definitely get some strong magnets as been suggested and probe around.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[eacmen]

if you decide to put a magnet down that oil galley make sure the magnet is secured to the tool itself. I’ve seen some pickup tools where the magnet was attached using some shitty adhesive and i’ve lost just the magnet. Luckily it was easily retrieved but I after that i have been weary of using cheap HF pickup tools in blind conditions.1

[eacmen]

Any updates? Please tell us you found it.