rgs944

OK, I can't believe it happened but while trying to figure out where some oil sealling pins go I dropped one of the pins down the head. It is in the lower back of the head just under the rear bridge. Big question is, does the head need to now come off? I would assume that the four large holes on the bottom are oil return passages to the pan. I guess taking the pan off would be a lot easier.

Mrmerlin

ahh can you see the pin or did it fall down the hole in the oil return? if so then its in the pan

Speedtoys

And if its in the pan...I wouldnt worry about it.


it wont get pulled off the bottom..it CANT get thru the screen, and a magnetic plug would grab it too.


..just has to wash down to the sump eventually is all.

davek9

Use a magnet on string ?

fbarnhill

I was able to use a long extendable strong magnet to fish a couple of dropped things while assembling my heads. I got lucky. If it went all the way down, you may still be able to fish it out with the magnet extension.

Good luck,

rgs944

I need to go to my other shop and get a mirror to see. I did play with a small piece of wire to see how far down it goes. Why can't I get to the oil pan with the small wire. Does it T off or something?

davek9

the pan is the last thing I put on, when eng on stand

rgs944

It is one of the alluminum pins for sealing the cam bridge so I can not fish it out with a magnet. Maybe some kind of vaccum if I would see it.

Dave928S

I find one of these flexi grabber tools to be really good for getting things dropped into hard to reach places. If you can see the item you're trying to get it's easy, if not you can have a few grabs and often get lucky. I've used this tool with a borescope and got to things in seemingly impossible places.

rgs944

I have come to the conclusion there will be no getting it out without head removal or pan removal. It is a soft alluminum pin about 2 in. long and about 3/16 in diamater. So should I leave it or start the process of pulling the pan? I know a few of you already said that it should not hurt anything but are you really sure or just a little sure. Is there anyway it can block off oil movement if it did not get all the way to the pan. I would not think so but I am just trying to cover everything.

Podguy

You might get access to the pan by removing the oil level sensor. I dropped a bolt down the same way and cannot get access down the oil return. Yes it does go straight down but then there is a split at the bottom that makes access hard. I heard two drops on mine so I am pretty sure it is just laying in the oil pan.

With yours I would start by draining the oil and removing the oil level sensor. Of course a magnet will not work on an aluminum piece but sticky stuff will. You could take one of those flexible grabbers and put on some sticky tape or the nursery sells some very sticky stuff for trapping bugs. I do not know what it is called but it sure is sticky. I put some on a blue hat one time to trap some deer flies. I did not get any deer flies but I made a mess.

You could try jacking the car up in the rear or pointing it down hill and then hammering on the oil pan with a big rubber hammer to get the piece to go down into the sump. With the drain plug and the level sensor out you can get some light into the pan and see if you can spot the pin to better guide your quest.

Being aluminum and in the sump is not a huge deal. On a normal car I would run it just that way. Aluminum is soft and will get beat up if hit by the rods. Although on a 928 where the worse always seems to get worse and engine work can get very expensive I would try to get the part out. Maybe time for a silicon gasket and a pan stud kit any way.

Good luck. I am almost psychologically ready to chase the bolt in my pan. I will let everyone know how that goes. Now when working in this area I put paper towels in the oil returns and just about every where a part cam drop down some where.

rgs944

I was so worried about the intake I neglected everywhere else something could get in. The part I don't understand is why I hit before getting oil with a very small wire. I feel a split about 1/2 way down and then another 5 or so inches it hits bottom but no oil. I suppose I am about 10 in. total. I would like to get it out so I can go back together tommorow. The longer it sits the more difficult it will be going together. I don't think I will take the pan off to get at it. As long as it can only get to the pan from that passage I am believing it can do no harm down there. I already have my pan sealed up nice with a new silicon gasket last year.

Dave928S

^^^ those drain holes line up with crank counterweights so it's likely that you're hitting one of those. If you rotate the engine you'll get the wire down past them to the sump.

As the pin drops down the hole the only thing in its way prior to hitting the sump is the counterweights. I think you're fairly safe in assuming its in the sump, with the only impediment to it rolling to the front being the internal surface oil flow directional ribs.

namasgt

It may not be in the pan... I did the same thing while rebuilding the engine. It got stuck at the bottom opening, since the drain back hole makes a sharp turn right before the opening to the pan and the pin is too long to make the turn. Took the oil pan off and had to use an air gun to blow it out from the bottom to the top of the head. You may get lucky and fish it out using a hook with some sticky stuff like two sided tape on one end. But that's if it did not get into the pan. I think the oil drain back holes are straight cut on one side of the block and have a sharp turn on the end on the other side. If someone has a bare block sitting around they can confirm this.

Bill Ball

Fishing around in the sump will be impeded by the dividing walls cast into it. It's not going anywhere and will just sit in the bottom of the sump.

As to bolts, which might be scarier, a buddy dropped an M10 bolt...might have been M8... down one of the oil drains and it never made it down to the pan. When we took the pan off we spotted it trapped in the drain part way down and it was not going anywhere. We left it there.