Dave928S

^^^ good info namasgt ... never took particular notice, but I just checked a short block.

Cylinders 5 to 8 drain holes are a straight shot at the pan, with only the counterweights in the way.

Cylinders 1 to 4 have a 45 degree deviation at the end which is in the girdle. This side is obviously that way to stop oil being flung bock up the drains by the crank.

The bend is such that I think there's a good chance it mightn't get past there if it's on that side.

Edit: Corrected bank numbers .. sorry for confusion ..got my side back to front when i had the motor upside down.

rgs944

So I went into the passage on the back passenger side. So I am hitting the counter weights with my wire? If that is correct and I can not get it out it, then it should fall harmlessly down with the first engine turn. Sound right?

namasgt

Dave,

Thanks for clarifying, mine fell on the side that has that 45 degree bend and the pin was stuck. I actually tried to pull on it lightly once I took the pan off and there was no way it would have come out, the Aluminum pin is simply too long to make the turn. Had to blow it out from the other side using air pressure.

rgs944

Should I rotate the engine by had a few times just to make sure it does not catch anywhere.

Rob Edwards

Ignore the carnage below, it was the first pic that came to hand- you can see in cylinders 5-8 (the oil pump side, top of pic) the drains are a straight shot out of the block, 80 mm above the level of the pan (the thickness of the girdle.). The 1-4 side has the turns Ali mentions.




Top of the girdle, showing the matching oil drain on the 1-4 side:




Underside of the girdle:

namasgt

Nice pictures, from post #17 it sounds like the pin fell in the drain back holes on the passenger side. As you can see from Robs pictures, the drain back holes on the passenger side have that turn at the end. So your pin should still be in the drain back hole not the pan. The reason your wire is hitting something is because of that turn, not the crankshaft. Get a mirror with flash light and see if you can angle it to see down the hole, you may have to use two mirrors. You should be able to fish the pin out if it is not wedged on the corner of the turn.

Dave928S

Note: I got the 1 to 4 and 5-8 banks back to front in my previous post ... which I've corrected. Got confused with motor upside down and then us/ row passenger side ...

Just tested a 43mm long x 4mm dia bit of steel and dropped it down both sides. It won't get past the 45 bend at the bottom on the drains on the US passenger side (1 - 4) ... but it will drop into the sump on the other side (5 - 8) even if a counterweight is in the way.

That means that the pin will be stuck in the drain on the bend and you should be able to grab it. I dropped the pin I made down and I could retrieve it with the grabber. I couldn't get it to go past the bend.

rgs944

What if it is wedged and will not come out. Should I be worried about it blocking enough oil to cause problems. I would think the other passages would cover some extra drainage if need be. Thin warm oil you would think would not be a problem. I really do not want to go under the car and do the pan job again. If I remember right you have to practically tear the entire suspention apart to get at it.

Dave928S

It definitely won't go past the bend ... just tried it. If you can get hold of it you should be able to just lift it out, with at worst a little bit of a wiggle to free it.

rgs944

Got it up part way with vaseline gobbed on the end of a wire. Finished picking it with a 12 in. set of tweezers. It's just a good thing my wife is home or I may need to use the vaseline for something else. LOL. I am a happy guy right now. Huge thanks too all of you for your help.

Dave928S

... good result ....

PC-85-928S

I dropped a grab-it bolt remover into my head.
I bought a very inexpensive magnet tool, which bent like a coat hanger on eBay.
I got it out through the oil drain plug.
One of the luckiest days of 928 ownership.

fraggle

Great finish!

Cosmo Kramer

Glad to hear you got it out! Another method to get stuff out of spots like this is duct tape a piece of vacuum line to the end of a shop vac and feed it down the passage with the vac turned on and see if it grabs it.

dprantl

It's good you got it out. There is little worse than the sickening feeling right after dropping a non-magnetic object down the engine after repeating in your head one thousand times, "You better not drop that". Watch out also for those aluminum chain tensioner washers!

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft