A shot in the dark question

[b1gp1mp1n247]

so a buddy of mine has had this rattling sound coming from his engine for the past few days up until yesterday when he was driving and the car died. we pulled the head today and found this metal piece sitting right on top of the piston. my question is can anyone identify what the metal piece is??? i attached pics of it and have it next to a nickel so you can see the size of it. its gotta be a piece from the head but i want to know for sure what it is before we play guessing games. thanks to anyone that can identify it cause im clueless as to what it is

 

[ECU5.0]

someone posted a few days ago with a picture of the same thing that they found in their oil pan or something. they thought it was something from the block.

 

[Gravel]

Hmmm, looks like its in pretty good shape for running around in a cylinder... What does the top of the piston look like?

Usually stuff thats been playing "jumping bean" in the cylinder is rolled up into a beat up little metal ball..
I have seen things dance on top of an intake valve for a while because they were too big to go through but those usually cause an inconsistant missfire because once in a while they will jam the valve..

Hmmm, gonna have to think about this one...

 

[89MustangGX]

Too bad you didn';t find the nickel in the engine -- I have a feeling this one's going to cost your friend.

 

[b1gp1mp1n247]

Hmmm, looks like its in pretty good shape for running around in a cylinder... What does the top of the piston look like?

Usually stuff thats been playing "jumping bean" in the cylinder is rolled up into a beat up little metal ball..
I have seen things dance on top of an intake valve for a while because they were too big to go through but those usually cause an inconsistant missfire because once in a while they will jam the valve..

Hmmm, gonna have to think about this one...

top of the piston is fine. he very rarely drove it when he started to hear the rattle. only when he had to. im clueless

 

[b1gp1mp1n247]

anyone else??

 

[5.0fox]

is it big enough to be part of a valve guide?

 

[Asha'man]

That's what I was thinking....

Ash

 

[dug]

it looks to thick to me to be a valve guide.

 

[1slyfox]

looks like the tube that helps align the head to the shortblock during install.

 

[StreetStang37]

thats exactly what i was gonna say. probably came off when you pulled the head. there is no way that could have fallen in without pulling the head.

 

[b1gp1mp1n247]

thanks guys. anyone got any suggestions as to why the car would die then while he was driving???

 

[Gravel]

Ok so we have established that this was not running around in the cylinder when it was running. At an idle of say 500 rpm, it would only take a minute to make 500 little dents in the piston and cylinder head.

So it was making a rattle and died. Did it turn over after it died? Was it seized? Even if that little piece were dancing in a cylinder, it would not kill the engine unless it seized the upward motion of the piston. How about the noise coming from a broken timing chain or distributor. This would give you a noise that would sound like a rattle and be enough to cause the engine to die and not restart.

Was the rattle RPM related or a general inconsistent rattle?

 

[1slyfox]

id check the cats

 

[b1gp1mp1n247]

Ok so we have established that this was not running around in the cylinder when it was running. At an idle of say 500 rpm, it would only take a minute to make 500 little dents in the piston and cylinder head.

So it was making a rattle and died. Did it turn over after it died? Was it seized? Even if that little piece were dancing in a cylinder, it would not kill the engine unless it seized the upward motion of the piston. How about the noise coming from a broken timing chain or distributor. This would give you a noise that would sound like a rattle and be enough to cause the engine to die and not restart.

Was the rattle RPM related or a general inconsistent rattle?

it didnt turn over after it died. from what he said the engine seized. it was clear that the noise was coming down from the block somewhere. the head looks to be normal. the rattle was not rmp related it was always there. the timing chain & distributor are fine we checked that. we are clueless have no ideas where to even begin. anyone else??