okay, so last year when i was parts gathering, i picked up one of the cheap lokar knockoff flex dipsticks. i get the motor in the car, dipstick in the motor, all is fine. fast forward to today. i decide to make somethin a lil more custom, out of an old stock style i have lying around.i tried to get the ******* out, it came apart at the braided joint. so i grabbed it with pliers, it broke below the nut that holds the braided line. grrr, so i grab the last couple inches of tube with vise grips, and gently wiggle and rock it, trying to pop it out. nope, it snapped off flush at the block, as i had started to expect it to do. since it was in so ***e and there was nothing to hold onto anymore, i figured id knock it in. 3/8 stock, cleaned and lubed, tapped it thru. alls well as far as putting the stock one back in and such, but it leaves me with a piece of aluminum tube, about 1in long, in the damn pan. to make a long story short, any suggestions on how to fish her out, short of pulling the motor and pan? and ive deffinately learned not to buy that cheap knock off ****, dammit, let it be a warning to others....
you really have to pull the motor to get the pan off? most stuff i've worked on usually has enough room to drop the pan.
It will sink to the bottom and I'd bet it stays there. and maybe each time you change the oil you can fish around a little with a wire and see if it's close to the hole.
Ever see the thread about strange stuff fond in engines? Leave it there, let the next guy wonder about it!
thanx, thats what i figured id do. now, should i let her idle a while to let the oil warm and thin? so it flows out faster and hopefully pulls the tube piece closer to the hole. i mean, i dont see it gettin in the pickup, right?
you got lucky to get one that fit that tight.. I always put rtv on mine cause they wernt very tight .. of course now you got it all ****ed up.. .. i wouldnt worry it wont go anywhere.. but if your feeling *****y then pull the pan and get it out.. You could spent prolly a years worth of oil changes trying to fish that out and never get it Dave
we actually had to sand the chrome off the end to get it in, PITA. never again. and yes, the stock one just slides in, will need rtv
My cars dont have dip sticks . But thats after the fact ,use an earth magnet about one inch sq .you can leave it to hold the tube at the bottom ,or use it to slide the tube were you want it . never understood the need for dipsticks ,no leaks and a three thousand mile oil change and alls well .c
Well, most old cars did leak, a lot, and most with vintage motors still do - on top of burning it off. Good to check once in a while just to be sure. Plus, in the old days, it gave the gas jockeys something to do.
Shouldn't be a problem to leave it unless there were small pieces the broke off, an oil change will be sure to get them.
My mistake i thought the lower tube would be metal most custom tubes dont come with the lower tube .then again most people forget to install that part on rebuilds . c
ya, no small stuff just the lower piece, about 1in of aluminum tube. cheap **** i tell ya. no worries now, just wanted second opinions
Aluminum is light enough that it will move around and it's conceivable it could get into the crank etc. If you're lucky it will be at the bottom of the pan and you may be able to fish it out with a piece of wire. As for the lack of a dipstick and in effect checking the oil level at the 3000 mile oil change? I don't agree with that....
Problem 1, cheap ****. Problem 2, YOU HAMMERED IT IN! Jeez what were you thinkin? Surely you could've strategized for a day or two and found another work-around. It's gotta come out. Here's a great data point for ya- couple summers back I knocked the skirts off 8 pistons with too much boost. All I knew is it had rattled and was smoking a little, finished the summer with a few cruises then took it apart. Those little "1 inch aluminum" skirts had been moving all around the crankcase, they hadn't hurt anything steel (yet), but were obviously in motion and not sitting at the bottom of the pan. Take the pan off.
A question for those who recommend leaving it. When you rebuild an engine do you clean the block and pan prior to ***embly? As clean as possible? Or do you just leave the broken or leftover parts lying there and bolt er together?
Here's what I'd do, (so it's probably a bad idea.) I'd go buy 5 gal. of kerosene, drain the oil and pour in 2 1/2 gal at a time and try to flush the ****er out or at least toward the hole. Then I'd fish around with a wire till is came out. Of course, I'd probably get pissed off and end up dropping the pan anyway. I know one thing for sure, it might not hurt anything rattling around in there but, just knowing it was there would drive me nuts.
I leave em in there, for luck. Seriously, my car ran really good when it had 16 piston skirts. The new pistons will have 16 more skirts. By putting the old ones back it's up to 32 skirts, that's like twice as good! (on a serious note, if it's an old junker of a small block that doesn't travel far, I might just leave it. Maybe add a rabbits foot keychain. Anything better and it's coming out)
I did it before, I pulled the breathers from the valve covers and put my shop vac to the train plug. Pulled it over the hole and I got it out with a piece of wire.
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