I am in the process of doing a full overhaul on my 1997 Ram, I have the bottom end done and when I was grabbing a head to put on my brother dropped one of the guide pins for the head in and it was not in the right hole and fell in, I pulled the pan and cannot see where this hole goes to. It is on the back of the block, drivers side in the center between the two rear most head bolts. Anybody have and ideas or a way to help me out here?

 

It would help to know what hole it fell into. The only real way to find the missing pin is to roll and rotate the engine until it falls out.

 

Sounds like the pin fell into the block thru a water jacket hole from the top. Best way to recover it (without dis-assembling the motor or flipping it) is by using a magnet recovery tool and do some fishing down through that hole the pin fell into.

 

It is the rusty looking one in this picture to the right of where the pin should be



The middle one in this picture to the left of the hole where is should be

 

The pin barely fit, and in my attempts to remove it, it fell in. The engine is in the truck so I cannot rotate it of anything like that.

 

Sounds like it went into a water jacket.

 

^^^ Yep. Not good op, some will say leave it and as it won't bother anything, me I say you need to get that outta there, coolant passage for the heads need to flow well not restricted. If you can see it then you should be able to get it out, gonna take some thinking as to how. How about a hanger with some super sticky tape on it. If it's up beside the cyld wall it will cause a hot spot and thats not good.

 

How about a magnet stick (retractable)? Put tape around the sides so it slides to avoid fighting that friction factor.

 

Pick the truck up, turn it over, and vigorously shake it.

 

How about a long pair of medical forceps. I think those rings are stainless steel, not 100% sure so magnet will not pick it up.