I'm in BIG Trouble - HELP!

[JohnGunn]

This is probably the stupidest thing I have ever done.

In the process of using a small 4 oz. oil can to pump Seafoam into the cylinders of my Aspire through the spark plug holes, I attached a short piece of black heat shrink tubing to the end of the spout and used a green twist tie to secure it. The stupid part is that I had only a scant 1/8 inch at the tip of the spout to attach the tube and as soon as I inserted it into the first hole (cylinder 4 actually) I hit the side of the hole with the tube and the first pump saw the tube with twist tie attached shoot into the hole.

That's pretty well the bad news. The good news is that it didn't fall into the combustion chamber but stopped with the top of the tube, with twist tie still attached, about half way down the threads of the spark plug hole. Here is what it looks like.

I don't know why it didn't fall all the way. Maybe it hit the top of the piston. But I figure I shouldn't count on that and believe my wisest course of action should be to treat this as a one time only shot at grabbing it with some very long pliers or something of that sort.

I plan to ride my bike to Harbor Freight tomorrow to buy one or more of these pliers. I'll return the ones I don't use, but I figure my best decision would be made with the tools in hand as I survey the actual situation.

Here are the problems I envision. Using straight pliers would tend to block my view of the tube which is critical to this working the first time. On the other hand, because of the depth of the recess, I would doubt the pliers with 90 degree offset would reach deep enough into the recess to be able to grab the tube. Maybe the 45 degree would work, but I would probably have to put it into the recess to know for sure. I figure my best bet is to have pliers long enough that I can use both hands to hold them open just the right amount and to be able to close them with a high degree of control. I'm hoping I'll be able to steady the pliers on the top of the hole as I position one of the jaws into the tube opening and the other below it. Then carefully, but quickly, close the pliers in a death grip that will not be released until the tube is out.

I doubt anyone has had to face this particular problem, but it is so important that this work the first time, I wanted to ask for help from anyone who might understand how critical success in this is. I don't need to tell you all what a dramatic difference there would be between success in getting the tube out and having it fall into the combustion chamber.

All suggestions and comments are welcome. You can even call me stupid if it make you feel better. But after that please tell me what you would do in this situation.

[crazyrog17]

Would tweezers do the job?

If it is resting on the piston, what about turning the crank by hand to raise the tube out of the hole a little bit?

Worst case, you put on a new head gasket after you pull off the head to get it out.

[skeeters_keeper]

How long is that piece of heat-shrink tubing? if its more than an inch or so then you should be able to push it up higher by turning the engine over a little turn it a little one way, if it starts to lower instead of raise try the other way (in case its BTDC or ATDC). Once it pokes its head out of the hole you should be able to grab it more easily. You might want to try to see past it with a flash-light first to confirm that it is resting on top of the piston.

[Larry Hampton]

Vacuum

[anomoly40]

The twist tie one of the metal wire types? A small magnet on a stick or string might work.

[TominMO]

Big trouble? Pfffft. That term is reserved for unexpected child-support claims, the mob coming after you for gambling debts, your family moving in with your mother-in-law, etc. All you have is a little mechanical issue, which you will no doubt deal with successfully.

[jmye1524]

Hemostat

[anomoly40]

http://hand-tools.hardwarestore.com/67-414-pick-up-tools/pick-up-tool-297812.aspx

[Larry Hampton]

axle grease on a straw

[JohnGunn]

Would tweezers do the job?

If it is resting on the piston, what about turning the crank by hand to raise the tube out of the hole a little bit?

Worst case, you put on a new head gasket after you pull off the head to get it out.

Thanks, crazy. Tweezers of the right length and strength would be actually better than pliers, since they could be controlled with one hand and would take up less room in the recess, allow more light and block my vision less.

At Harbor Freight I found none that would be long enough, especially when you consider that to gain the best grip on something your pressure must be applied about half way down the length of the tweezers.

The jaws of the "U' shaped tweezers on this page would be perfect for grabbing the tube along with the tie, but they would have to be about 10" long to allow me to close them without having my hand in the recess blocking light and view. However, the idea is appealing and depending on the look of things with long pliers in hand facing the problem, I may decide that this is important enough to find exactly the right tool on the internet and spend whatever it might cost to order it and have it shipped. If it gets the job done, it would be cheap at almost any reasonable price. I have to fight my natural desire to end the tension associated with this problem as quickly as possible and allow a week or more to pass if it improves my chance of a happy outcome.

I am approaching this with the assumption that the tube is not being held in place by the piston. Under that assumption the tube could be delicately balanced by the top of the tube touching the rough surface provided by the threads in the hole. I don't want to turn the engine for fear of disturbing that assumed delicate balance. I don't even allow myself to close the doors with the normal push that causes the car to shake, for fear of that.

As far as the work necessary to remove the head and get the tube out, what may be trivial to you would also be trivial to me had I decent place to work. But where I am living I am not permitted to work on my car in my reserved parking place. That leaves the street, where that sort of thing is also not allowed. I have done work there, but I'm sure there would come a point at which a passing policeman would feel obligated to stop and tell me I was breaking some law and insist that I tow the car to a shop to have the repairs completed. Then the trivial becomes a major disruption to my life. Over and above that concern, in its present condition the car is not drivable and getting it to another location to work on it would certainly disturb the delicate balance I am thinking may be at work holding it in position.

How long is that piece of heat-shrink tubing? if its more than an inch or so then you should be able to push it up higher by turning the engine over a little turn it a little one way, if it starts to lower instead of raise try the other way (in case its BTDC or ATDC). Once it pokes its head out of the hole you should be able to grab it more easily. You might want to try to see past it with a flash-light first to confirm that it is resting on top of the piston.

Thanks, Nate. As I recall the tubing was about 3 or 4 inches long. I think the more reasonable assumption is that it did not fall into the chamber because it hit something that stopped it from doing that. But I have decided to assume the worst possible case in which the twist tie got caught by the threads in the hole and it is balanced there without support from below. When I get the thing out I'll certainly take something and find out exactly where the piston is, but now the tube is pretty effectively blocking any view inside the cylinder.

Vacuum

Good thought, Larry.

I have a good strong vacuum that would have power enough to suck the tube and tie up and out, if I could be assured there was a valve open enough to create a sufficient flow of air. Without that, I fear the feeble air flow would disturb the position of the tube just enough to allow it to fall down. A risk I would like to avoid.

[TominMO]

+1 on hemostat. Basically a combination of superthin needle-nose pliers with a scissors grip. Hobby stores and medical-supply stores have them. And online; do a Google search.

Otherwise vacuum.

[JohnGunn]

The twist tie one of the metal wire types? A small magnet on a stick or string might work.

Thanks, anomoly40.

I thought of this myself after my post. I went to the trash where I had thrown the tie ends which I had cut off and found that my telescoping magnet grabs them with sufficient force to pull the tie and the tube out of the hole. But only if the two pieces stay together. Since the tie is at the very end of the tube, due to my unmitigated stupidity, I would no want to bet that they would stay together.

Big trouble? Pfffft. That term is reserved for unexpected child-support claims, the mob coming after you for gambling debts, your family moving in with your mother-in-law, etc. All you have is a little mechanical issue, which you will no doubt deal with successfully.

Thanks, Tom. I know you are right and, once this is over and done with, I expect I'll be giving the same sound advice to another poor, panic-stricken coward. In the meantime, go ahead call me coward. Or, even better, stupid coward. I confess to being both.

[links56]

Take a small straw and a piece of string and fold the string in half then feed it through the straw so you have two loose ends of the string on one end of the straw and a loop of string on the other end. Then the loopof string is like a lasso kinda all you have to do is get the loop around your tubing and pull the loose ends of the string to tighten the loop and then pull it all out.

[JohnGunn]

Hemostat

Thanks, jmye1524. I knew that a hemostat was a device used in surgery to clamp an open blood vessel, but it wasn't until I did a Google search and saw how they are constructed that I realized that this is exactly what is needed here. Close to a tweezers but opened and closed by pressure at its end rather than its middle. Allowing the hand controlling it to be out of the recess where it would block light and vision and with finger holes giving delicate control of opening and closing by one hand which would not be possible with a pair of pliers. Saw one 10" long for $20. I might well end up ordering this very thing. It would mean I'd have to live with this for a week, but it would save me a 25 mile bike ride to Harbor Freight and make me more confident of success. It's definitely in the mix.

http://hand-tools.hardwarestore.com/...ol-297812.aspx

Yes! Yes! Yes! So many good ideas that didn't even cross my mind. I remembered the long reach pliers I had seen at Harbor Freight and my mind just stopped. I almost didn't start this thread, thinking, what good would it do. Well, you have my permission to add dim-witted to stupid and cowardly in referring to me until this problem is solved, one way or another.

This pick-up tool takes up the least amount of space in the recess, costs a lot less than a hemostat, and is available at many different locations locally. At 4 or 5 dollars I could buy one and practice with it until I developed a secure technique that would almost assure success. Might even go to a high-end tool store like Sears to get one more precisely constructed to improve my chances. Thanks, anomoly40.

axle grease on a straw

I'm thinking, not certain enough, Larry. Once you have a grasp of it with some mechanical device, you can be sure that it will hold as you pull it out. The holding power of grease is less certain. Plus, in order to get it to hold, you have to initially push the tube in the feared direction of the combustion chamber. Not without merit, but probably won't make the cut. My sincere thanks, nevertheless.

+1 on hemostat. Basically a combination of superthin needle-nose pliers with a scissors grip. Hobby stores and medical-supply stores have them. And online; do a Google search.

Otherwise vacuum.

I think I agree with you, Tom, on the hemostat. It's clearly well designed for this purpose.

I've expressed my reservations about the use of vacuum in another response.

There are so many ideas that I had not even considered that I think I am best served by holding back for a day or so as I consider my options in all this new light.

I have been so impressed with the number of excellent suggestion given here that, when this is settled, I promise to send to each respondent a prize of my own design and construction. Beautiful in its accuracy and simplicity, it is something no serious automobile aficionado should be without. More about this once this task is accomplished, regardless of outcome.

[econoaddict]

I have looked at the pic of the tube and honestly this is not the big huge issue it seems to be made into.
There have been alot of suggestions here that will work.
anomoly40 hit it on the head with the claw grabber tool, I personally would have grabbed my long needle nose pliers, grabbed the tube and pulled it out.
Worst case you get the tie and the tube drops, big deal it's shrink tubing, take all the plugs out and crank the engine, it should blow out eventually.
Seriously by looking at the pic there is ample room to grab it with needle nose pliers.
Even just a thin piece of wire with the end bent to a 90 degree, stick down through the tube slide it under the bottom edge and lift.