Screechy engine noises not related to slipping fan belts. I heard a short, disturbing screechy noise and there started to be oil drips from the pulley area. I pulled the crank pulley and fished out the washer behind it... Wait a minute, there is no washer behind the pulley, only the oil slinger. Somehow, the oil slinger got torn into two parts, a washer size part and a larger ring that is loose, but too large to come out of the crank nose hole. Don't I have the most unusual challenges...
I haven't figured out what caused the slinger to tear apart. Anyone else ever seen this? The engine sat new, but unrun, for twelve years before I bought it. I've put 175 miles on the engine in the last month or so. No obvious large debris in the crankshaft nose area.
In any event, I'm pulling the engine and will split the case in the next day or so to see what's going on and what it will take to put things right. The best scenario is a cleanout and just replacing the slinger and maybe the rear main bearing. When I drained the oil, no big chunks of anything were evident. The magnetic plug had normal break-in dust size particals on it, but nothing that suggested violent disaggregation. Please, please, please...
Oh, and for those of you who wonder if woodruff keys ever act like little bastards, here's a picture of how I finally persuaded the crank key to leave the loving embrace of its favorite crankshaft (after vicegrips, pb blaster, torch and gentle conversation extolling the exciting world outside of the crankshaft nose). Sometimes it just takes a slide hammer.