Well here it goes...
My air pump has been making noise for quite some time and the bearings finally gave up the ghost, and I have decided to remove the pump and related parts. In antition of removing the smog pump I had gathered the necessary parts, smog delete bracket and smog plugs. Removal was pretty straight forward and relatively easy but the holes in the back of the heads were pretty dirty, clogged with carbon soot. I have researched here and over at the corral and this is a common problem, everyone suggests to spray carb cleaner into the holes and let set, then use a pick to break up the carbon build-up. Also suggested is to use a thread chaser to finish up before installing the plugs.
Here is where things got ugly, for the life of me I do not know how anyone is able to spray carb cleaner into the holes as there is very little room back there even with the long spray sticks. I tried using a long piece of tubing and pour the carb cleaner into the holes with little success. I thought for a while and decided to cut some q-tips in half and soak into the carb cleaner and swab out the holes, all was well and this technique showed lots of progress as I was removing a lot of the carbon build up albeit slowly. The first set of q-tips I cut directly in half, this worked but was tricky to get into the hole as I have large hands, long q-tips and lack of room.
After about 8 swabbings I decided to cut the q-tips into shorter lengths, the shorter lengths proved much easier to install into the smog ports but the shorter length was not optimal as there was not enough shaft length for my large fingers to get a good purchase onto to be efficient in swabbing. It was just seconds in that I realizing that this was not going to work and I thought that I might lose the q-tip into the smog hole (not good!!!). The second try proved my thoughts to have merit as I lost the q-tip into the smog port (not good!!!). After many unsuccessful attempts to remove said q-tip as there is very limited space to work with, I tried using my shop vac but the hose was too large. I then tried to use my vacuum cleaner, which has a smaller hose but no luck.
So gents, what damage may come from my ignorance??? Any thoughts???
I have a set of gt40p waiting to go on but I still have several more parts to gather to finish the job and money is very tight right now.
Ok, first off, I will say "I don't know", officially. However, until somebody who does know shows up, we can brainstorm together, lol.
Do you have one of those curve-tip needle nose pliers? Would that reach in there?
Second, do you have a piece of vacuum hose or aquarium tube? Do you have a way to reduce your shop vac down to it (maybe a funnel and some duct tape?) That way you could maneuver the small hose down there and suck it out.
Third, I have run the engine with that port open, and it blows out. Could you try turning the engine over and see if it just blows it out? Again, I don't know how far the q-tip is in, what it might interfere with, etc, just an idea.
I have some needle nose pliers that have a curved tip. They are easy to find. Also, what about some short tweezers or an o-ring pick tool? Just bend the tool to fit.
To cap the holes in the back of the heads, take the pipe that was bolted on to the back of the heads......cut the ends off where it bolts to the head, flip them backards, apply a little RTV, and bolt them on backwards to cover the holes.
Where are you in Oklahoma? I'm down in Ardmore.
So you lost part of a Q-tip in the smog hole? I wouldn't worry about it. The smog passage puts fresh air into the exhaust port after the exhaust valve. It's very unlikely that the piece would get sucked into the engine. If anything it would be more likely to get blown out the exhaust, if it isn't burned by the hot exhaust gasses first ;).
Start 'er up, rev it a couple of times. It'll come out.
Thanks guys!!! I was not aware of where the smog port led to, and fill much better about the ordeal now. I will start'er up and rev away. The problem with trying to use a pair of pliers is the lack of room behind the head and not being able to see anything, I did try an o-ring pick but think I shoved further into the head. I do have aquarium tubing and that is an excellent ideal and may give that a shot if it does not come out by revving it up.
Vinnie, I live in Cleveland (35 miles nw of Tulsa). We have spoke a couple times and I bought a set of valve covers from you.
Thanks again!
Owen
I had my smog pump lock up on me. I re routed a new belt for $20 or so and didn't delete anything or use a smog pump eliminator.
I've never liked those smog pumps, btw, do they make a very distinctive sound?
The smog pump really does nothing as far as emissions testing is concerned on these cars along with the EGR. The thermactor system will extend the life of the catalytic converters however. These engines will pass emissions sniffer tests without the EGR/thermactor without issue.
I'm in no way endorsing removal of them, just stating what I've seen and heard.
For what it's worth, many newer cars don;t even have an EGR anymore....
Usually when they're borked, they do...