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The saga of the entombed dowel

Over the weekend of April 11-13, 2009, I created a crisis of sorts when I broke off the end of a wooden dowel inside the cylinder of my 2001 L1200LT while doing a valve adjust. I would not have been able to extract it without the suggestions and advice of my friends on the BMW-Tech listserv, particularly their gentle nudging to be patient and their reassurance that I would eventually get it out.  (See "foreign object" thread on the BMWTech list at IBMWR.ORG)

The photo shows the piece that was inside the cylinder. I was finally successful in getting the piece out by using the red wire to locate the piece and move it from the edge of the cylinder to the center where I could see it through the spark plug hole. I was then able to snag it with the mechanic's grabber and with repeated gentle tugging the piece turned around inside the claws of the grabber to where I was able to pull it through the hole. I had to lay the LT over on it's side to angle the cylinder partially upright so I could maneuver the piece to where I could grab it. The red wire was necessary because the spark plug hole was small in diameter and fairly deep such that a straight tool wasn't able to reach the edge of the cylinder wall, even with the piston at bottom dead center.

Main lesson learned: be creative, patient, persistent and confident...

 

 

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Last  updated:  12/23/10
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