Dropped something into the spark plug hole

Alwayssomething
Wed, 19 May 2010 21:49:07 +0000
Maintenance/Repairs

Okay. Novice auto enthusiast here. Recently decided to do my own maintenance and so on and so forth on my 1993 Buick Park Avenue, starting with some desperately needed new spark plugs and ignition wires. When I went to install the new plugs- due to working completely blind- I managed to get some gunk on them. The engine would start, backfire and then cut out. I noticed some smoke coming from around one of the new plugs. I was fairly certain that the engine gunk I’d been trying to avoid was the cause. so I removed the new plugs and sure enough, a few of them(particularly the one that had been smoking) were filthy. I decided to clean out the holes they screw into and quickly learned that I should be fairly generous with my pipe cleaner. I dropped an approximately three inch long piece into the hole, and it has completely disappeared. I’ve checked with a mirror and flashlight and haven’t been able to see it. It hasn’t turned up under the car and I haven’t been able to find it anywhere else in the engine bay, though admittedly there are numerous areas that are impossible to see into. So I’m assuming it’s in the cylinder, though I’ve tried using a telescoping magnet and a rubber tube connected to a vacuum cleaner- both of which were able to pick up a similarly sized piece without any trouble- to no avail. It’s been suggested that I should try starting the engine without that particular plug in, possibly using the vacuum as well to try and pop it out, though I don’t really like the sound of that. I have manually cranked it, and the piston in that cylinder seems to be at or near the top of it’s stroke(not sure I’ve got that wordified quite right). Hasn’t helped with accessing the bit of pipe cleaner, though. Is there anything else I can do short of tearing into my engine to get at this thing? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks much!

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