Cam Dowel Pin In Oil Pan????

[PON-TON]

During my last oil change I was fairly shocked to see the dowel pin from the cam stuck to my oil pan magnetic drain plug. Is this common? I have 80,000 miles will original cam and timing components. I assume there's no liability now that I removed the wayward part. Pin looks perfect, with no damage, so I assume it simply came out forward through the timining gear.
Pretty stange!

[Mr. Luos]

Picture?

Not sure what dowel pin you are talking about.
I do know the rockers will spit their roller bearings sometimes.

[2001NBMZ28]

Thinking the same thing, needle bearing(s) from a bad rocker.

[vettenuts]

I have seen this once before, but to make sure measure the pin to verify that it is the cam pin.

[PON-TON]

It is certainly not a needle bearing of any sort. I don't have the pin with me at the moment but it is about 1/2" long and 3/16" around, pretty much the same as every cam dowel pin I have ever seen. About one half is discolored slightly which suggests the other half was pressed into some part, which let me to think cam. This picture shows how it could back its way forward through the cam gear's slightly larger hole, and I was quite lucky it did not cause any damage. Regardless I will pull the timing cover this weekend to remove the doubt. Thanks for the replies, I was not sure if this was a common problem.

[vettenuts]

I wouldn't say common, but it has happened.

[98formy]

I recently changed my oil and found three needles very small needle bearings stuck to the drain plug, are those what you are referring to and what are the consequences of not fixing and/or how to fix the problem.

[Danger731]

I recently changed my oil and found three needles very small needle bearings stuck to the drain plug, are those what you are referring to and what are the consequences of not fixing and/or how to fix the problem.

collapsed rocker arm then a bent valve

[98formy]

how common is it for the needles to come apart and do think that the bearings came from the rockers.

[vettenuts]

Needles from the rockers are unfortunately more common than you think. I upgraded to Cranes for several reasons, this being one of them. You can get the stockers rebuilt by HS with better bearings if you want but I would start looking for the rockers that are releasing the bearings and correct the situation as quickly as you can.

[98formy]

I fixed the one that was bad last night. Bought a replacement from GM for 9 bucks. Its crazy, but its only got 53000 miles on it. I guess I will be upgrading later, are the harland sharps a good replacement?

[Mr. Luos]

I am going to have Harland Sharp rebuild my stockers eventually.

[PON-TON]

Replaced Timing Chain And Gears....it Was The Dowel Pin. Also 2 Of The 3 Cam Bolts Were Loose About 3-4 Turns!! Yeee_owww!! Lucky I Tore Into This When I Did. All Replaced Now (using Loctite) And Running Great! Thanks Again For The Info!!