Anyone have any idea what this little pin might be?
 

I found this sitting in the webbing of the block just rearward of the oil filter housing. It's a little less than 1/2" long (12mm?) and about 5/32" thick (4mm?). I had done the OFHG prior and cleaned this area out at the time, so it definitely happened on my watch. For the life of me, I can't figure out where this could have come from, but it bugs me!

Assume you have the 3.0? What other things have you been working on since you did teh OFHG?

Yes, 3.0. I did the OFHG about a year and a half ago. This current project was mostly underneath - swap differentials, trans work, clutch, oil pan gasket, front axles. The only thing on top this time was the thermostat, but I found this little pin before starting that.

It's got a little wear on one side. I searched through realoem for all the results with the keywords 'pin' or 'dowel' and didn't find anything with these dimensions. I wonder if it could be from a tool...

That thought occurred to me as well. Have you checked your tools?

From a ratchet perhaps..?

DISA valve pin?

https://i.ibb.co/Mp4LRwD/disa1.jpg

Just a WAG but it looks like the pin from a pivoting (angle head) ratchet

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I cannot remember if the OFHG housing has a dowel alignment pin. Realoem does show something like that in the area but cannot be sure.

The manual shows two dowels but they are larger hollow dowels that two of the mounting bolts run through...

Yes, this is correct - they're kind of like sleeve dowels. I thought of the starter locator pin, but that's present and accounted for. I haven't noticed any of my tools not functioning due to a lack of a pin like this. I have a few breaker bars that pivot, but no pivoting ratchets. I still haven't cleaned and put my tools away so I'll go through the pile and see if anything looks amiss. Thanks for the ideas!

Looked at my tools, and nothing looks amiss there, but I did have another thought on what this is - it looks like it could be a roller from a needle bearing. It looks chromed and hardened with some scoring on it. I still have no idea where it came from or how it ended up in the webbing in the engine block near the oil filter housing...