I was trying to remove the locator/roll pin that came out with the cylinder head when I removed the head. The one close to the cam sprockets stayed in the block. Eventually, the machine shop got it out but in the process broke part of the hole that holds the pin. They attached the piece again and it seems pretty strong but even if it was to break off, there's enough of the hole left to hold the head in place. But, the locator pin was mangled in the process of removal. I'm either getting a new one from the dealer for about 2 bucks (plus a round trip of 20 miles) or I'm using an old socket which coincidentally is just about the same diameter as the pin! The original pins don't have a slot but are a essentially a small piece of tubing, .510 inches in diameter and maybe 1/2 inch long. I can duplicate the outside dimensions with the socket but wonder whether any expansion issue would be a potential problem.
Geez, I guess there are animals out there! Hope they didn’t charge you for darn near ruining your engine block.
The locator pins are just that, an alignment aid. If they're functional enough, once you've dropped in all the head bolts, it doesn't matter?
Yep, they still charged but they've done good work for me before at reasonable prices. I'm guessing they should have cut it off and drilled it out?
