HELP!! broke chopsticks in combustion chamber, anyone for chinese? Options

[opera guy]

sigh,

it was suggested to me from two different sources to use a stick (wooden dowel, pencil, chopsticks...etc) to put into the sparkplug hole to try to find TDC. Needless to say, when ever i work on my car, things gets... complex.

so i got this chopstick in the sparkplug hole... turn the wheel and the chopstick started to go down.. down..good, this is going well, so i thought. then i kept turning the wheel, chopstick start to move up. IM EXCITED!! this is gonna work!!! yes!! then, snap, my chopstick broke in half. half was hanging out the sparkplug hole, the other half fell in!

is my only alternative = pulling the heads? or can i somehow "fish" out the broken chopstick?

argggg help this is a brand new rebuilt, less than 500 miles

[URY914]

Shop vac?

Drop in a few termites?

I've got a little tool that has a claw that retracks on the end of it. YOu can get them at Sears.

[Bleyseng]

Aaa, I look at the flywheel notch or the fan for the TDC mark. I have used the chopstick in the hole but you remove the stick when you rotate the engine because.....this happens. I reinsert the stick when its close and rotate the engine back and forth to determine exactly where the highest point of the piston stroke is ie: to check the fan marks.

Hmm, looks like you will be pulling the head to remove the piece of chopstick. Thats not good with it in there although it might burn off in 250 miles. It could get stuck in a valve when it opens. again not good.

Geoff (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif)

[opera guy]

this is plastic chopsticks. looks like i will have to get the claw that was mentioned on the above post. i hope this works

[URY914]

Plastic- no problem. Stick a butain torch in there and burn it out.

[opera guy]

QUOTE (URY914 @ Dec 31 2004, 04:35 PM)

Plastic- no problem. Stick a butain torch in there and burn it out.

you're kidding right?

[DJsRepS]

Fire that muther up. Drive it at 5500 shifts around the block should do it. I think it would grind up burn and spit out plastic or wood without dammage within seckonds. I mean it's just a thin strip of plastic what could that do to a combustion chamber. Worst thing it could jam up under a valve for an instant? Bleyseng has good advice on the stick thing but I like mine better how about a drinking straw. It would bend and not break. I just look for timing mark and when the rotor points at #1 wire.

[Ray Warren]

Not sure if you can see it through the spark plug hole.
What if you took another plastic stick and put a dab of crazy glue on it and touched it onto the one inside and tried to pull it out.
I'm sure that this is easier said than done but might worth a shot.

[Trekkor]

Remember the the Steve Martin bit, "Let's get small"?

Take a small pill and go in and get it... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/w00t.gif)


Seriously, I think the burn it out or run it out would work.

Or you could put somthing sticky on a stick and pluck it out.
The super glue would would be very hard as it goes off pretty quick.
Try two sided tape.
I think the shop vac should get it. You might have to rotate the engine so a valve is open and the air can really flow. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/huh.gif)

KT

[Elliot_Cannon]

Use a magnet!! No. Wait. That won't work. Never mind. How the hell did you break it off in the first place. I hope this post is helpful.
cheers, Elliot

[Katmanken]

OK,

Hows about chewing gum on the end of a piece of wire....

Beter yet, poster tack stuff on the end of a wire.

Put it in the plug hole and fish around. Bend wire to reach odd areas.

Ken

[Rhodes71/914]

I'm sorry but I don't think I would want to be burning plastic in the combustion chamber of a brand new rebuild. I think that the claw grabber thingy would work, might take some time though. I would try something sticky on the end of another stick (a little bigger that a chpstick so you don't break another one) until you can get ahold of a grabber.

Whatever you do let us know how it turns out.

[Katmanken]

I've got a bunch of surgical graspers and those suckers have rigid 5mm shafts. Your reach through the plug hole is mighty limited with a straight shaft. Matter of fact it's range is conical.

I do endoscopic surgical instruments for a living. They call it "keyhole" surgery.

Try the sticky on a wire- bend to increase range of motion.

Duct tape flag might work too.

Ken

[Trekkor]

How about compresed air to blast it out?
Wear safety goggles (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/cool.gif)

KT

[bryanthompson]

Fill it with something more dense than the chopstick and maybe it'll float to where you can grab it with tweezers/little grabber or something?

[TimT]

QUOTE

or can i somehow "fish" out the broken chopstick?

I dunno can you?

tell us?

[DJsRepS]

Once the motor is running the airflow only goes one way out the exaust. That plastic wont stand an chance it wont stay around long enough to melt and stick to the cyl or valve. When dropped a valve from cracked springs it made a terrible noise I shut it down pulled over not knowing what happened asked my son to crank it I barley reved it the piston bent the stem and stuck it in the guide but the noise quit and I got home on 3cyl. Any way the reason I posted this is no cyl dammage no head dammage and that was a steel valve bouncing around in there. I did normal valve grind job all new springs and only one valve and guide. I did get LUCKY. So could you.
Anyway I can already tell you dont like my fire that muther method so you could try dropping the exaust if the valve is not open tighten the adj. then pipe in a powerful blower (eg gas driveway blower) to the port with the plug out and turn the crank oppisite the dir you were going incase the plastic is lodged/jammed by the piston that broke it. With all that air blowing in from the bottom of the cyl may churn that plastic around in there untill it sticks out the plug hole....... Another mad method experiment with another chopstick and cup zylene solvent (non acid) see how long it takes to liquefy the stick. If it works just fill that cyl time it the same as the test stick+ 30min leave out the plug put a rag on your plug hole and turn over by hand or go back to fire that muther up!

[Steve Thacker]

QUOTE (kwales @ Jan 1 2005, 12:14 AM)

OK, Hows about chewing gum on the end of a piece of wire.... Beter yet, poster tack stuff on the end of a wire. Put it in the plug hole and fish around. Bend wire to reach odd areas. Ken

Ditto (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smilie_pokal.gif)

I would try the suggested OR go to your local hardware store and get a roll of flypaper, yes you heard me right. Take a little of that sticky stuff and wrap it around another chopstick. slide it in, swirl it around and trust me it will fish it out. That stuff is the stickiest crap on the planet. Pulling the head would be too much work and the burnout at 5k around the block could cause the stuff to get lodged in the valves also a No..No.

[opera guy]

well..

1. tried fly paper at the end of another stick... cant feel the broken stick

2. tried shop vac'ing it out, no luck either (with a hack attatchment using 3/8 outer diameter hose)

looks like im gonna have to rip the head out grrrr

[balljoint]

I still think the vacuum is your best bet. Can you hear the piece rattling around? It may just take a bunch of tries to get the piece to line up with the exit hole.