started as pm, now worried ? teardown ??

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ok so i am continuing on my service and drop the strainer from case bottom and while cleaning it i found this
its a fully intact c-clip about 6mm od, now im worried but i dont know how worried ?

the engine runs good, has good power, no smoke, passed california smog in february any suggestions??

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wayne , jack , john , milt , steve , gerry , assorted gurus of the flat 6 ?

any of you recognize this clip as a p part or a piece of an assembly (oilpump?thermostat? relief valve ?)
i do have a receipt that shows a shop doing rework on the tensioners and finding one not pumped? and placing in two new ones last year ?
i don't know which way to go on this to tear further or put oil in change plugs or something in between ?

i cant find that type of clip in the pp parts catalog ?
wondering if the vast experience we have here recognizes it .

thanks guys
got the car cheap wondering if cheap enough

[DRACO A5OG]

Looks like the retaining circlip from the distributor, but how could it drop in there?

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its 6mm across and war on the top side of the stainer at the case bottom

?? got me scratching haed engine had no noise prior just standard i think was doing oil lube tune up and --------- any thought ?

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bump... bump...

[euro911sc]

Sorry, but the the pic is horrible... there are two of those on the oil pump shaft... but, they may be bigger that that shown here. After that I cannot think of any other internal engine item that uses those.

It may have been a fluke while servicing the distributor it flicked off into the air and ended up in the engine...

-Michael

[Superman]

6mm? That's a darned small c-clip!

It has probably been there for many miles/years and who knows how it got there. Sure, you can tear your engine down to the crankshaft as an investigation, but I sure wouldn't. Unless I were looking to burn a few thousand dollars (while you are in there.......) and a hundred hours of my personal time.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Maybe that's an inch ruler rather than metric, which would make it about 9/16" rather than 6mm. Hard to tell from the near-useless photo.

[mca]

Could have come from a torque wrench or something. I have one on mine and it tends to fall off.

[Fast Corners]

You may want to check the timing chains. The "c" clip could be from a master link connection on one of the aforementioned chains. While you have the oil out, just pull the chain housing covers and slowly rotate the motor to check the chains for a master link (hopefully with only one missing clip). I would check the left side housing (Cyl 1-3) first as this one has the most direct path to the oil sump screen. Good Luck.

[john walker's workshop]

master link clips are pretty small, like 1/8". oil pump shaft clips are bigger than the one pictured, as long as that's a US brand measuring device.

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sorry for the blurry photo, that is a metric rule behind the clip the od is 6mm tough to be that close and get a clear shot , didn't dare use the wifes camera hands were full of oil so i used my phone.

next time i post i will wash my hands first, thanks for the input and continued help

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just an update , i did find out when i took the cam cover off the left side the in question e clip was from the timing chain on the left side just as the p- guru stated it would be

thank you

finished the valve adjustment ,tune up and oil change
and thanks to all i've picked up from this forum runs much better and sounds like a fine tuned german auto car should

[Fast Corners]

Glad to hear that it worked out. It is a great feeling when you find out where the missing piece came from.