I've got an LQ9 that I'm going to build. I was unable to pull the dipstick out during teardown, and wound up breaking it off almost flush with the block. I pulled the oil pan off today, and had similar problems. I pounded on it with a hammer and it wouldn't budge. I tried to twist it with vice grips and that didn't work. I hit it with a punch and wound up breaking it about an inch away from the block.

So.. I'll leave it like it is until I pull the rotating assembly, but once I do that, does anybody have a suggestion for the best way to get the remains of this POS out of the block?

Is it common for these things to be so tight in the block? I never encountered a problem like this with a regular SBC.

 

Had the same problem with my LQ4....ended up just bringing out a bigger hammer and then it finally came out

It was just some rust keeping it in stuck.....

 

Soak it down with some penetrating oil and let it set.

 

I also had a similar problem, but I was able to bash it out from the inside out. Are you getting any machine work done on the block? If you are, let them deal with it. Otherwise Fluid Film the snot out of it and get a punch just the right size.

 

VIOLENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER!!!

Spray it down with some sort of penetrating oil, let it sit for a minute, and it should pop off with a medium-strength knock with a hammer.

 

I'll give the penetrant a try. Here are pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Dipstick inside block when I started:


pounding on it with a hammer didn't work, so I busted out the punch. That didn't work, and eventually I managed to break the dipstick tube:


another view:


outside the block:

 

When you get it out, you may want to run a reamer in there. The dipstick is supposed to seal on an O-ring and should be a loose fit by itself.

 

That sucks. Somebody should get this guy a new block.

 

Get a cutoff wheel and cut it flush, then get a punch just the right size and convince it to leave! If that doesn't work, take it to a machine shop and have them drill it out.

 

is this true? mine didnd have an o ring and i didnt put one back. i used my ls1 dipstick on a iron 370. do i neeed an o ring?

 

You need to get someone to measure the hole and turn down a peice of steel and put a lil shoulder on it to go inside the tube but still fit in the bore and just knock it out with a hammer. That way you dont mess up the bore of tube... Goodluck and a lil wd40 or PB blaster wouldnt hurt..

 

tap the inside of dipstick that remains, thread a bolt in,pound bolt out. use penetrating spray also.

 

Baked-on varnish made the tube larger. If was corrosion, it would pop out once it first moved.

I'm certain you will change the oil more frequesntly than the previous guy.

 

ha, any takers? ill take the one with the terrible dipstick, jimmy

 

Can you remove the dipstick tube? If so use the correct size drift and drive it out.

 

Previous guy gave it a bath of mobil 1 regularly at the dealer according to the carfax.

To be honest, I thought the inside of the motor looked pretty good. The only reason I'm doing a rebuild at all is because I found out that it had 130k on it, not the 62k that the salvage yard said.

 

did you get it out?

 

Haven't had time to try. Life keeps me busy enough that I really only get to work on it over the weekends.

 

Try a torch. You can get one for ~$20 at Lowe's or Home Depot. Heat up the tube and the entire area around the tube really well. The the expansion of the two metals should break any kind of bond that they have together (rust etc), or if there is loctite or something similar in there. Let it cool for a couple minutes, then hit it with WD-40. If that doesn't work, you may have to drill that sucker out!