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Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet Electra & AVL => Topic started by: Ociralat on April 06, 2012, 06:57:22 pm

Title: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: Ociralat on April 06, 2012, 06:57:22 pm
I'm almost embarrassed to post this request, but I did something really stupid and now I need some advice. I was going to add some oil to my 2008 Bullet ES AVL engine and the little plastic tube extension on the funnel I was using slipped off and slid right down the oil fill opening into the crank case. I can’t see down into the crank case through the fill opening, so there doesn’t seem to be any chance I can grab it with long tweezers to pull it out.  Is the only solution going to be a complete engine disassembly?
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: Ice on April 06, 2012, 07:25:06 pm
No worry's mate.

You might could go fishing with a spring finger a.k.a. spring loaded retrieval tool like this
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/PROTO-Flexible-Retrieving-Tool-5C591?Pid=search (http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/PROTO-Flexible-Retrieving-Tool-5C591?Pid=search)
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: barenekd on April 06, 2012, 07:30:15 pm
You can try just draining the oil and it may come out with that. If you have a spray gun, you could spray solvent down into the engine and see if that'll wash it out. On the other hand you can run the engine and that should take it eventually take it over to the screen and you can drain it there. It probably wouldn't hurt the engine if you left it in there, but no guarantees on that. It should just settle in the sump until you changed oil.
Bare
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: Superchuck on April 06, 2012, 07:30:41 pm
Are you any good with chopsticks?
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: The Garbone on April 06, 2012, 07:36:19 pm
You can get a "pickle grabber" for under $5 to fish it out. 
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: t120rbullet on April 06, 2012, 07:38:25 pm
If you dropped it into the oil fill opening it's not in the crankcase it's in the oil tank.
Probably wouldn't hurt a thing just leaving it in there but if you like me it would bother me every time I looked at it. One of those pickup tools like Bare was talking will get it out eventually. Just work on it every now and then until you get it and don't beat yourself up too bad.
CJ
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: Lwt Big Cheese on April 12, 2012, 09:30:17 am
Pick the bike up.

Turn it over.

Shake vigourously.

Do this naked else your clothes will get oil soiled. And prefereably shouting obcenities at the top of your voice.

Get the whole process videod and put on here.

None of that will help, but it will give us all a laugh.

 ;D
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: ROVERMAN on April 12, 2012, 04:32:50 pm
 ;D ;D ;D ;D.
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: t120rbullet on April 12, 2012, 05:33:10 pm
Do this naked else your clothes will get oil soiled.

Still thinking about that Mazola party eh ?
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: Lwt Big Cheese on April 13, 2012, 09:07:52 am
Almost.

Once upon a time, when I was in the RAF, we had to change a temperature senser in an hydraulic oil tank.

So my oppo carefully unscrewed the sensor from the tank...   only to find that it wasn't retained by a captive nut! It was loose and fell off, down into the bottom of the tank!

So now oil was spurting out over the floor. I acted like the little Dutch boy and put my finger in the dyke. Mmm that doesn't transanslate well!

My mate ran off to get another nut as we couldn't reach the original.

He was away ages. I started to cramp up. I moved position slightly, but slipped on the spilt oil. I'm on the floor with warm hydraulic oil puring over me. Mmmmm....

So when he came back and we finished the job I had to go and shower. We had no facilities in the section so I had to take a paper cup full of swarfega back to the accomodation block It was a scottish winter and bludy cold.

But it was well worth the wait to run a shot shower and rub ice cold swarfega all over my naked body...

 ;D
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: The Garbone on April 13, 2012, 12:41:39 pm
Oh great.  Now I have to remove my brain and scrub it with a wire brush. 
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: Blltrdr on April 13, 2012, 04:33:51 pm
A flashlight and some curved clamp pliers from Harbor Freight should do the trick.

Any attempt at the solution described by LWT Big Cheese will result in physical and mental harm unless your kinko-meter swings that way.
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: Arizoni on April 13, 2012, 11:13:02 pm
Ociralat
The following is just my opinion and if it is wrong I'm sure someone will point out the errors. :)

Assuming you haven't retrieved the plastic tube my advice would be to forget about it.

The oil sump doesn't have any moving parts in it and I believe the oil pump pickup has a screen (gauze) strainer to keep large items like dropped plastic tubing, big beetles, grasshoppers etc. out of the oil pump.

Even if the lost plastic tube somehow made its way out of the oil sump into an area where parts are moving, the moving parts are metal which should grind up any plastic part that has the temerity to challenge them.
The fine bits of plastic that will result will be filtered out of the oil supply by the screen and filter before the oil can be pumped into the important parts of the engine.
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: Ociralat on April 15, 2012, 04:34:30 am
Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions (um, except for shaking the bike upside-down while naked... :P). I have tried the "pickle-grabber" to no avail, but I'm not giving up. Since I have no idea what the inside of the oil sump looks like, it's kind of hopeless to fish around inside it not knowing what (or if) the claws are hitting.  Next step will be to try the grabber again with all the oil drained out, so hopefully I will be able to "feel" around to catch hold of the tube. I appreciate the reassurance the tube will not cause any damage - that was my main concern! At least I got a new tool out of this ordeal - and with a built-in LED light no less!
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: Lwt Big Cheese on April 16, 2012, 09:20:28 am
If you'd taken my advice the problem would have been solved by now.

 ::)
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: GreenMachine on April 16, 2012, 02:45:28 pm
and it was sound advice indeed. :D
Title: Re: Oops - dropped something in the crankcase!!
Post by: G. Spence on May 30, 2013, 11:12:51 pm
A flashlight (http://www.robustbuy.com/led-lighting-gadgets-led-flashlights-c-505_1027_730.html) and some curved clamp pliers from Harbor Freight should do the trick.

Any attempt at the solution described by LWT Big Cheese will result in physical and mental harm unless your kinko-meter swings that way.

Yes those can do the trick with excellence.