Help this dummy, please?

[mainexile]

Left work early to take advantage of some BEAUTIFUL weather and get some fishing in. I haven't been confident in the timing setting on my 78 Mercruiser 470 since there are multiple marks on the harmonic balancer. I decided to pull No.1 spark plug and check for compression. Since the riser blocks reasonable access to No. 1 with my fat hands, I used a pencil (eraser end in) to check for piston height. (You see it coming, right?) Using a remote starter switch to bump the starter, I didn't check the lateral free play of the pencil. It jammed against the riser, and I now have about 2" of pencil and eraser end in my No. 1 combustion chamber. ( I know...my sign is being delivered express mail). Does anyone out there have any trick that would prevent me from pulling the head? The plug hole is for one of the "smaller" (5/8" socket) plugs. Please...anyone...HELP??

 

[gcboat]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Maybe ???? you could use a good shop vac and try to get the piece to come close to the plug hole and then with a pair of long pliers or tweezers try and get a grip - from there you're on your own.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Sorry, no magic tricks here. You gotta pull the head.

 

[Windykid]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Get a small magnetic retriever, roll the engine by hand, bring piston up and hope to get the metal band that holds the eraser on to attach.

The safest thing I put in the piston hole is a drinking straw to tell if its all the way up.

 

[mainexile]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

I already thought of using my long reach magnet. Unfortunately, the band holding the eraser is not ferrous metal - it's aluminum. As for the long pliers/tweezers, access is limited due to the angle of the plug hole and the riser. Thanks for the suggestions, though.

 

[Windykid]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Can you get some compressed air in there?

 

[JustJason]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00941322000P?vName=Automotive&keyword=pick+up+tool

or you could just run it it's only a little wood/lead/aluminum...

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

You could always pull the riser for access.Actually doesn't the riser block access to #4 cylinder?Been awhile since I worked on one.

DHP

 

[QC]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Call me nuts, but I would try burning it with a small torch and then with the exhaust valve open, I'd vaccuum what's left out of the plug hole . . . If it doesn't work you really haven't lost anything. I guess it doesn't matter which valve, but I think you want some free flow of air into the cylinder to get the vaccuum to actually suck it out of the plug hole.

 

[macr6]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Left work early to take advantage of some BEAUTIFUL weather and get some fishing in. I haven't been confident in the timing setting on my 78 Mercruiser 470 since there are multiple marks on the harmonic balancer. I decided to pull No.1 spark plug and check for compression. Since the riser blocks reasonable access to No. 1 with my fat hands, I used a pencil (eraser end in) to check for piston height. (You see it coming, right?) Using a remote starter switch to bump the starter, I didn't check the lateral free play of the pencil. It jammed against the riser, and I now have about 2" of pencil and eraser end in my No. 1 combustion chamber. ( I know...my sign is being delivered express mail). Does anyone out there have any trick that would prevent me from pulling the head? The plug hole is for one of the "smaller" (5/8" socket) plugs. Please...anyone...HELP??

I'm sorry but I actually laughed out loud on this one. Just you talking about "you know what's coming"

Just pull the head. That way you'll never go "I wonder if that sound is left over pencil". If you pull it then you know you'll get it all out and have piece of mine.

 

[Waffle]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Try the shop vac idea. Make sure the vac tank is clean. Get a piece of hose small enough to fit inside the plug hole while leaving a little room for air to enter around the outside of the hose and the plug hole. (air flow is key)

Duct tape the hose to the end of the vac and suck that sucker out.

Or you could fill the cylinder with water and it would float to the top?

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Try the shop vac idea. Make sure the vac tank is clean. Get a piece of hose small enough to fit inside the plug hole while leaving a little room for air to enter around the outside of the hose and the plug hole. (air flow is key)

Duct tape the hose to the end of the vac and suck that sucker out.

I would try this ^^^^^^^ for a half hour & if it did not work, pull the head.....


Or you could fill the cylinder with water and it would float to the top?

I would not do the second suggestion at all.....

 

[Wotknot]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Bubble gum and a bendable straw (corrigated on 1 end) with the piston near the end of its compression stroke so it'll be near the top. I'll probably get slammed for even mentioning it, but hey, whattaya got to lose? End up pulling it afterall?

OR

Using that same straw, stuff a cotton ball down into it, leaving part of it sticking outta the straw.......dip that end into some contact cement......after it begins to get tacky, take a stab at the pencil.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Haut, suggestion #2 does work.Might even float in light oil.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Haut, suggestion #2 does work.Might even float in light oil.

It probably will, but I would not want to fill my cylinder with water.....

 

[WaterWitch2]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

How about using a dentist's pick with the piston near the top of it's stroke?

 

[billbayliner]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

I would use the "bubble gum" trick. Lower the cylinder a little and if possible look into the cylinder. Use a long device including the flexible magnet retriever tool and place some sort of adhessive on it and bring it on top of the pencil. Let it cure. I personally would use a dab of urathane.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Just pull the head. Your in and out in just a few hours and you will KNOW that you got all of the pieces.

 

[Nandy]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

Try the shop vac idea. Make sure the vac tank is clean. Get a piece of hose small enough to fit inside the plug hole while leaving a little room for air to enter around the outside of the hose and the plug hole. (air flow is key)

Duct tape the hose to the end of the vac and suck that sucker out.

Short of removing the head, I think this is the best advice. I know I would be doing that. Once you got the part out you can try to mate it to the other part of the pecil that was in your hand to get an indication of any left overs. I would suck them out too.
Good luck, would hate to hear you had to pull the head for that.

 

[mainexile]

Re: Help this dummy, please?

First of all, thanks to everyone who responded. I appreciate the advice. In the end, I realized that if I screwed up the engine, I could simply put it away for the winter (no practical place to work on it in snow and freezing weather), and then next spring I could drop a reman 6 or V8 in it. So I decided to try to "blow it out"...and apparently it worked 'cuz I just got back from the lake. So God or Lady Luck or departed ancestors must have been smiling on me today. They say that God loves fools and drunks, and since I don't drink, I must have made a complete fool of myself today. I only wish my guardians had decided to let me catch some fish - that would have been the icing on the cake. Again, thanks to all who offered suggestions.
Steve:redface: