Darn it all, I need some major help.

Okay I need "Ya I've done that before, this is what I did" help. Being lazy and knowing better, I dropped a pen (writing) down the plug hole to watch for TDC. Rotated wheel, *snap* . Pulled pen out with lower inch still in cylinder.

Okay get it out of your system.......

I have tried wooden rod with gum, Wire. I can see it, it is a whole piece. Okay When all else has failed and it is time to removve the head, what is envolved? I have never done this before, on a bike. I am going to try to get away with this as cheap as possible, so what has to be replaced, what can slide by this time?

I really need some help guys/gals, I'm running out of ideas.

Turn the bike upside down

hmmmm

What about this type of grabber tool?

Ya I am going to grab a set from work but i think the head of the tool maybe to big. But I am deffinatly giving it a try.

My first thought was the upside down trick too.

okay I'm gonna feel like an idiot asking this...wait I already do. The first upside down comment I half thought it may be a smei sorta joke but now with two comments I'm serioulsy considering this. Is this even a plausable idea? lets see pull head, turn bike belly up. One side of this scale deffinatly has my vote.

ahh I hate that.. that is jobs that seem easy enough and then something really daft happens that causes no end of hassle. it normally happens to me.

i have retrieved a bolt before with a bit of piano wire and a sticky blob of greese or non flick chain lube on the bottom.. something sticky that if some comes off will not hurt

you might have tried this
best of luck

AJ

Would draining the oil first be recommended?

The grabber tool pictured should work for this job. I have one like that one and occasionally need it for stuff like this. It's small enough to easily fit thru the plug hole.

Barring that, I'd put a small blob of silicone on the end of a dowel etc., slide it thru the plug hole and sit on top of the broken pen. Go away for a couple hours and then give it a try. It should be dry enough to extract the wayward piece of pen.

I think he was weighing those options against each other... Either pull the head OR turn the bike over.

DO NOT TURN THE ENGINE OVER!

yes- drain the oil. remove the tank and ex pipe. flip it over and fish it out. small bits can be blown back through plug hole with air on the ex stroke with the pipe off use gentle puffs not a blaaaaast! dont turn it over untill 99% is out as you do not want a valve hanging open on something if you feel it bind STOP, reassess. BE CAREFUL. dont use the start motor. pull air filter and screen after and verify nothing is in there.

there are timing marks on the cam wheels ya big silly. or next time use your finger over the plug hole or a drinking straw and never stick it in unless you are sure you darn are near TDC.

Good advice

kinda funny now that i re-read it.

got someting caught between an intake valve and the piston once on an LC4 when i shoved the thing in there at BDC. never again and on regluar sized plugs i use a TDC whistle. gettum at Summit racing etc.

"Barring that, I'd put a small blob of silicone on the end of a dowel etc., slide it thru the plug hole and sit on top of the broken pen. Go away for a couple hours and then give it a try. It should be dry enough to extract the wayward piece of pen."

Top solution that slow puke .... will file that one away for ron..

unless you glue it all to the piston top.

I'm thinking, lay the bike on it's side & try to fish it out, that way you know the pen parts will be at the lowest point, instead of trying it upright & guessing where it might be, or the upside down method

How about using a shop vac with a smaller tube attached to the end?

Chunk of fuel line size hose attached to a shop vac attachment....you know the one that is flat for vacuuming hard to reach crevasses. Tape it to it and seal it up good with electrical or duct tape at the vac hose and snake the tube down into the hole and turn the vac on.

5.4 liter Triton Fords are notorious for spitting spark plugs right out the head......so rather than replace the heads, there is a tap and helicoil tool made for reparing them. The final step in the repair is to attach a tube to a vacuum, stick it down the hole and suck out the metal shavings from the cylinder after tapping the hole. You could get a thin wall rubber/plastic flexible tube roughly the size of the plug hole I.D. and with a large enough I.D. on the tubing..............suck it out!