My exhaust manifold is pretty rusty.
While changing my spark plugs, I think I might have knocked a little bit of rust into the spark plug hole. (Yeah I know, I should have cleaned the area first…lesson learned.
Is there anything I can do before I crank the engine? Should I be freaked out?
Oh, it was really fine rust too…and maybe like…1/2 a teaspoon at most? Hopefully it wasn’t much… I don’t know, I can’t tell post facto.
I know what I would do.
You could disassemble the engine or…You don’t say if you have a car or if you have a carb, multi-port fuel injection, TBI, or what.
I would try to disable gas and spark and with the plugs out, crank the engine for a second and blow the rust out the spark plug holes. Be advised that flying rust can injure you and your eyes and an accidental spark can ignite the fuel-air mix blowing out the rust and make a little flame-thrower. BE CAREFUL!
How about you duct tape a hose small enough to fit in the spark plug hole to a vacuum hose, and try to vacuum it out?
I would try putting a small compressed air line in the spark plug hole to blow the rust back out.
I seriously doubt it will do any harm what-so-ever. If you’re really worried about it get shop vac and suck it out. I dropped a nut down there once and the vacuum sucked it right out.
I wouldn’t blow it out, an intake valve might be open.
Back in the days of carburetors, I’ve seen lots of junk fall into the manifold openings when the carbs were removed. This includes rust, metal filings, and even a couple of small ball bearings. The mechanics chose to simply put it back together and start the cars. I never heard of any problems from those accidental instances (but that doesn’t mean I support the concept).
I started it and ran it and it seems to be fine…
Oh, and it is a carbeurator btw…1979 2.3 ford engine.
Long story short…don’t worry about it. Not enough fell in to mess with.
Find something else to worry about!
Come on now…
Some of us get a little edgy when people aren’t concerned enough about their cars. It’s better to err on the side of caution.
However, I was a little on edge when the questioner didn’t tell us: make, model, year, engine, trans, miles, etc. (Even though in this instance it probably wouldn’t matter). I pictured it as a Zamboni or an Allis Chalmers.