Broke off the crankshaft locking pin while doing timing belt

dino · **Joined:** Tue May 03, 2011 7:29 pm **Posts:** 12

Hello

well here is what happened. Had a guy help me do the timing belt and water pump. Things went ok until he put too much pressure on crankshaft when he was only supposed to be moving it a tiny bit back and forth to help get timing belt tight and over tensioner. Anyway the locking pin was a quarter inch drill bit exactly like in the 5 part how to YouTube video. It sheared right off. Leaving half of it falling inside.

We stuck an Allen key in there and it went right into the lock position. So the half drill bit has fallen down inside out of the way it seems. We completed the rest of the job and turned it over several times by hand and could not hear or feel anything unusual

Now what should I do?

I am scared to fire it up like this and wondering if I need to tow it to a shop and have the engine split from trans and remove the half drill bit ?

This is such a stupid mistake that I can't even find any other posts about someone doing this

I really appreciate some knowledgable recommendations

Thanks

Ps I will follow up with the outcome of this

Mike92104 · **Posted:** Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:13 am

That sucks a lot. The only thing I can think of is to thread in some sort of flexible magnetic pick it tool through the starter hole, or the access plug. I think you'd have better luck through the starter hole though. The access plug is pretty tight. It's 2 wiring connectors and 3 bolts to pull the starter. A bit of a pain ,but not too bad.

I wouldn't run it until the bit was removed.

Mike

papaindigo · **Posted:** Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:42 am

Take home message - drill bits are hard but brittle use 6mm or 1/4" long shaft allen key instead.

It probably fell to the bottom of the transmission bell housing. If so it may likely remain there harmlessly or may not. Others may know for sure. Only way I know to remove it is pulling transmission.

dh100m · **Posted:** Tue Aug 25, 2015 2:20 pm

the starter method should work another way is to epoxy rare earth magnets to bottom of bell housing about 4, get them from inside
old computer hard drives I have done this to my sump pan works well

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Aug 25, 2015 2:39 pm

Gluing some magnets to the bottom might work, but going in through the starter hole is your best bet.

This is part of the reason why I don't use any crank pin at all. It just isn't needed and things like this can happen. Sorry for the misadventure.

Hexus · **Posted:** Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:53 pm

This is why I use the Pin included in my kit from Sealey. After using both, I'm convinced the Sealey set is the better set.

Anyways, yeah, go through the starter.

dino · **Joined:** Tue May 03, 2011 7:29 pm **Posts:** 12

I took off the starter and it gave me pretty good access but even with different magnets and a lot of time I could not get it. I drilled an inspection hole with a hole saw ang got a rubber gromet to put in it to close it up. Even with direct access on the bottom I could not locate the drill bit.

Finally I fired it up and it ran fine. Took it for a test drive and as i tried some higher Rpms. All of the sudden I heard some knocking noise like something has broken loose then it was gone. I pulled over to check the inspection hole. I found evidence that the drill bit shattered into bits. No damage to anything else. I cleared out the remains and all is well. A successful timing and water pump change (kind of)

A hard lesson learned

Thanks for all the great ideas

Napheus · **Joined:** Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:39 pm **Posts:** 57

Hexus wrote:

This is why I use the Pin included in my kit from Sealey. After using both, I'm convinced the Sealey set is the better set.

Anyways, yeah, go through the starter.

Does your crank pin from the Sealy set actually fit? I tried to use mine, but there was interference from the hex head hitting like a rib cast into the block. The Miller part doesn't have a hex head like the Sealy that I remember, but it could have been the Sealy fits if the threads in the hole aren't corroded and the pin fits correctly. I didn't want to risk forcing anything so decided to use the allen key method, which worked fine.

Hexus · **Posted:** Sat Aug 29, 2015 5:56 pm

There are 2 pins that look like a possible crank pin in the Sealey set, were you using the right one?

Yes, it's one of the best direct-application tools I've ever used. It fits up tight, every time, and does EXACTLY what it's supposed to do. I've used it 11 times now, and 2 others that I know of on this very board have used it with great success.

flman · **Posted:** Sat Aug 29, 2015 7:07 pm

I would have just fired it up without a second thought, little drill vs flywheel and pinion.

Flywheel 1

Little drill 0

Broke off the crankshaft locking pin while doing timing belt

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