Anyone know what this is? Mercury 50hp

[pross]

I was changing the engine oil on my 2013 Mercury 50hp and after all of the oil drained out I noticed this sitting right outside of the oil drain plug. It’s solid, about 0.75” long and 0.12” in diameter. Engine seems to run fine. Anyone have any ideas what this is?



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[JOHNSON]

Piston pin needle bearing???

[pross]

I did look into that but from what I can tell from parts diagrams the pistol bearing is hollow and appears bigger


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[pross]

Piston pin needle bearing???

I did look into that but from what I can tell from parts diagrams the pistol bearing is hollow and appears bigger


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[Gone South]

Edited- you said it came from under the cowling but not inside the powerhead. Could be anything.

I’d make sure the dowel pin didn’t come out of the camshaft

[Bownut]

Yeah, that's not Gucci.

[pross]

Edited- you said it came from under the cowling but not inside the powerhead. Could be anything.

I’d make sure the dowel pin didn’t come out of the camshaft

Is the only way to check the camshaft to remove the powerhead? If the dowel pin came out of the camshaft wouldn’t I notice some decrease in performance or something?


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[mudflat]

Is it magnetic?

[pross]

Is it magnetic?

It does appear to be slightly magnetic


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[mudflat]

Thought it might be part of the dipstick that would catch metal particles considering where you found it. But I dont own that motor so it was a wild guess!

[BET]

completely uneducated guess, item# 19

https://www.boats.net/catalog/mercur...shaft-oil-pump

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Quicksilver...P/392164234657

[Gone South]

Is the only way to check the camshaft to remove the powerhead? If the dowel pin came out of the camshaft wouldn’t I notice some decrease in performance or something?


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The timing gear cog bolts to the camshaft and is turned by the timing belt. All of that is external to the insides of the motor. The dowel pin would keep the timing gear from slipping on the camshaft. I’d think it to be unlikely but not sure what other loose pins would show up under the cowl. Maybe some sort of hinge pin from a throttle/timing linkage?

[pross]

I did replace a fuel pump that quit working this year. When I took the fuel pump off the part circled in red would just fall out. I wonder if that was held in by the pin I found? I will be checking that tonight.




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[willyworm]

It looks like a guide pin for a lower unit.

[pross]

It looks like a guide pin for a lower unit.

I think think that could be it also but thought that there was not way it could have made its way up to the oil drain plug


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[pross]

FYI In case y’all ever see this again. I took the fuel pump off and it appears that the piece I found is the piece that fell out of the old fuel pump that made it quit working. Doesn’t seems like a good design to have a dowel that can just fall into the crankcase like that.




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[Bad Habit]

That's the warranty pin- when it falls out the warranty is over.