Aluminum piece in oil

[Tigwelder]

My brother has a Snapper with a B & S Model 21A07 11 HP electric start Intek OHV engine. He changed his oil last week and heard something fall into the oil pan. It is a small "C" shaped piece of aluminum that looks like an ear off of something that a bolt went through. The diameter of the hole fits a 1/4" bolt. We have looked a parts breakdown but don't see anything where the piece came from. We pulled the valve cover and everything looked OK in that area. The motor runs good but we are worried that a bolt or something is not tight as it should be and may cause more damage if nothing is done. Has anyone had a similar problem or have a clue where the piece came from. The next thing is to pull the engine and drop the pan but thought we would ask others before we went that direction.
Thanks

 

[EngineMan]

Can you post up a photo of it.

 

[Rivets]

Do not run that engine until you have opened the crankcase. The first thing that came to mind is a connecting rod cap, but the engine would not run if that came off, unless it is running on one cylinder. Running the engine could lead to you spending big bucks in repairs. This manual might help.


http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12502267/B&S Service Manuals/05_273521TwinCylinderOHV.pdf

 

[wjjones]

My brother has a Snapper with a B & S Model 21A07 11 HP electric start Intek OHV engine. He changed his oil last week and heard something fall into the oil pan. It is a small "C" shaped piece of aluminum that looks like an ear off of something that a bolt went through. The diameter of the hole fits a 1/4" bolt. We have looked a parts breakdown but don't see anything where the piece came from. We pulled the valve cover and everything looked OK in that area. The motor runs good but we are worried that a bolt or something is not tight as it should be and may cause more damage if nothing is done. Has anyone had a similar problem or have a clue where the piece came from. The next thing is to pull the engine and drop the pan but thought we would ask others before we went that direction.
Thanks

I would seperate the pan from the block, and check it out real good. You will need atleast a new pan/ sump gasket. Im with Mr. Rivets it sounds like a piece of the cap broke off where the bolt goes through.

 

[EngineMan]

Yes I was also thinking connecting rod...!

 

[reynoldston]

I have found through the years of mechanic work. I something is floating around in the oil some place down the line it will do damage. STOP and repair it before something big happens and a small job turns in a whole engine. I know its a pain in the A## but worth it in the long run.

 

[Tigwelder]

Thanks for the comments from everyone. I hope you can view the attachment of the piece. I made a scale of 1 inch x 1 inch to give an idea of the size. I've had some experience with the older style motors but have never been into an Intek OHV engine. From looking at the parts diagrams, I don't see anything in the crankcase that is bolted other than the rod. However, I don't think this is a rod cap. The bottom section under where the bolt would be is only about 1/8 inch thick and the rod caps I've seen are a lot thicker and have at least a 5/16 diameter bolt. There is a possibility that this did not come out of this engine but got on the motor from somewhere else and just fell off the engine when he was changing the oil. He said he doesn't remember working on anything but it could have been there for a long time and just decided to fall off at this time. This is the reason for my post. If there is nothing in the motor that this could have come from, I don't want to do the work required for nothing. Course it probably it probably could use a set of rings and if it gets torn down they will be replaced.

 

[Rivets]

I would say that is a piece of the connecting rod cap. Time to open the engine up.

 

[lzn197]

Open it up and inspect.

 

[wjjones]

Open it up and inspect.

Yep thats the only way to be sure.