Need some advice here. (And I'll offer some.) I attempted to use a "dental pick" to remove the camshaft's front oil seal. It did not work well. It was a unsuccessful struggle with that tool. The pick's tip broke off and I thought it was stuck in the seal. I changed to a screwdriver with a long thin shaft and narrow fat blade. I got the seal out but not exactly as some have described it as "popping it right out". I cleaned the surfaces in preparation for the new seal and set it in.

I must have had a lapse of focus because I didn't find the tip in the old seal and could only think the worse that I had pressed in the new seal without an intense search for the tip. After due reflection, I removed that new seal and began a better search effort. The broken off tip is quite small, perhaps 3/16" long and 1/16" diameter. I think I saw it's broken end with the tip resting below the shaft (hard to see) and against the wall of some hole.

I made an attempt to retrieve it, only to have the broken tip fall away into a cavity where I could no longer see the tip.

So, - and here's where I need your advice - do I remove the valve cover and look for the tip, thinking that I can see on the other side, into this "cavity"? Should I just set in a new seal and forget the broken tip and hope that the oil lubrication will flush it to the oilpan? I might need to get a magnetic drain plug from IPD.

My advice to offer - Never use a pick!

For the fun of Volvos.
Mike