[406MENACES10]

Dang. So I didn't spend hours working on this, I finally have time today to get into it. Happy Father's Day by the way, guys.
(I rotated the motor by hand to look around the cam gear and it's scratched where it bit the teeth off, but intact. Maybe I shouldn't have rotated the valve train? Too late. Also I'll verify .005-.008 spacing)
When I drained the oil in a clean pan, I thoroughly went through with a strong magnet twice, and placed it in the spout while pouring the oil into a clean 5-gt container. Found NOTHING. Then poured 2 qts down the dizzy hole, and retreived only a tiny piece by placing a telescoping magnet into the pan. I'm nowhere near happy at this point, and I'm not going to start this engine until I get the crap out.
Plan : friend has a flexible magnet that I can put in the drain plug hole, since I did find something in there already. After that, will flush more oil through and try again... if that method works, I won't remove the intake manifold. If I have to, intake manifold comes off.
That's where I am today, with a day off. I work a LOT and didn't think I could possibly be pulling my motor apart 😅 🙃 😆 😂. If intake removal doesn't solve this problem and removing the oil pan doesn't solve the riddle, thats exactly what must happen, or else it's a gamble hoping the gear is in the pan waiting to get sucked into the pump/filter.
Eddie K!

 

[SMJr]

Could always do what has been already suggested and flush down distributor hole with either Diesel, Kerosene or Mineral Spirits.

 

[Top355x]

Could also pull engine and take apart on stand because if it’s a stock frame S-10 is there room to get pan off in truck I know on G bodies it can be tuff depending on pan design

 

[406MENACES10]

Could always do what has been already suggested and flush down distributor hole with either Diesel, Kerosene or Mineral Spirits.

I flushed with 2 gallons of oil, if you think it would help to use kerosene/diesel/spirits I'm willing to try. I searched that oil pan with the camera, dragged strong magnets across the pan to the drain hole, nothing but a tiny bit of powdered metal- EDIT I snagged 2 more fragments from pan now.
Would the teeth be sitting on top of the oil pump? If not I'm assuming it exploded in a horizontal direction into the valvetrain.

 

[406MENACES10]

It flushed 2 more little fragments out the drain hole. I retreived most of it, flushed with 2 gals diesel fuel but there's another smaller piece in there.... somewhere. Cam gear is fine. I'm sending it. That's what oil filters and prayers are for.
So pray for the 406 Menace. He only has one life to live and he's going to live it.

 

[Top355x]

There are oil galleys right there piece could bounced in good luck I’d go to harbor freight and buy a couple of the round magnets they sell and place on oil pan and put magnetic drain plug in it if you’re going to send it

 

[Top355x]

Did you try putting broken pieces into gear just to see how much is missing

 

[406MENACES10]

Like a puzzle, pieces fit but missing one. I have magnets on pan. I'll run it awhile and cut filter open, change oil and look again. Took another break

 

[406MENACES10]

 

[BLUEOVALRACER]

What brand Mufflers are on your truck?

 

[69 Judge]

Like a puzzle, pieces fit but missing one. I have magnets on pan. I'll run it awhile and cut filter open, change oil and look again. Took another break

Might take a while before it bites you - if it bites you...

First stop for debri is the oil pump if it makes it to the pan. When I was first starting out bracket racing, I had a pushrod or rocker failure which caused a hyd lifter plunger to pop out and head south (due to the open lifter valley of a Pontiac. I figured it was heavy enough and large enough that it would just hang out in the bottom of the pan, providing it made it that far, at least that is what I was hoping for.

I put my new valvetrain parts on, all was well and I went back to racing. A week or 2 later, suddenly, my oil pressure started dropping toward zero at idle but as I increased rpm it just kept going up, such that I knew it would explode the filter if I didn't find the issue. Sure enough the pressure relief valve of the pump had a little piece of metal stuck in it such that it was frozen just off the seat causing the leak at idle and no pressure relief as flow (rpm) went up.

I saw after I pulled the pan how that lifter piece had gotten whacked by one of the counterweights on the trip south and a few little chunks came off it finding their way past the pickup screen into the pump. There is no filter until after the pump and even then, if you have a functional bypass it will go right by that when the oil is cold.

Just something to look out for. With 20/20 hindsight, the young me would've yanked the pan first even though it meant taking the engine out in that car.

Good luck.

🤞

 

[406MENACES10]

I'm aware could/should take the motor out and check the pan better than just with flexible magnets/borescooe like I did . This motor is just beginning and my feeling is that it will be rebuilt faster sometime in the near future, likely this coming winter. If it were the final build I would disassemble it today. We're driving it hoping the 1 remaining fragment gets into filter, it's small enough.

 

[xlcr77]

I had a good friend who heard a bad valve noise in a 18 degree head 632. He found a rocker adjusting locknut was gone. Was "advised" by his "tuner/helper" that it was probably in the dry sump pan, and to put another nut on it. He told me this while we were at the track, I pleaded with him TO NOT DO THIS. Well, he didn't listen, and broke the motor in the burnout, the locknut that was "in the pan" wasn't in the pan afterall..it evidentally got between the roller lifter and block, killing the Donovan aluminum block.....
Plain stupidity, if you ask me...
I guess you could look at it that the piece of distributor gear is small, but is it really worth it?.
How much time to take the oil pan off to find the piece of tooth?
Remove The Risk....

 

[406MENACES10]

At this writing it will be best to search the filter for the remaining fragment. That's next step after work. Changing oil.

 

[Top355x]

Won’t have anything worth rebuilding if it hurts itself bad enough it’s a s10 with headers and no wheel wells how long would it really take to pull engine and check it over and reinstall it a weekend I mean I could pull rat motor out of my GN in about 30 minutes

 

[dvw]

I've used a strong magnet dragged across the bottom of the pan towards the drain hole. It'll pull any parts sitting on the bottom of the pan.
Doug

 

[406MENACES10]

Pssshhh fun stuff. It's not in the filter or the oil after running the engine. It's hanging out somewhere.

 

[406MENACES10]

What brand Mufflers are on your truck?

They're old 2.5" flowmaster chokemasters I had a long time... 3" collectors/3" pipes. I remove the pipes in a few minutes for racing it's just v-bands and loosen one nut from a rubber strap on each exhaust dump
.

I've used a strong magnet dragged across the bottom of the pan towards the drain hole. It'll pull any parts sitting on the bottom of the pan.
Doug

See comment #26 in the thread

 

[406MENACES10]

I'm planning to go into the top first, yank intake. (Edit- that wouldn't turn up anything because the cam gears below all that.. so I didn't do that)
If I don't find it I'll yank it out and check the pan like most of you said I should. If I don't find it then I dont know what's next! EDIT HERE - IVE FILTERED EVERY DROP OF DIESEL AND ALL THE GALLOMS OF OIL IVE POURED TROUGH THIS MOTOR- IVE SEARCHED ENOUGH- IM GOING TO WATCH THE CAM/DISTRIBUTOR GEARS WEAR PATTERN GOING FORWARD)

 

[stuska1]

If it was mine , I'd run it. Just my 2 cents.