[General] [Buick]"How To" bypass hose and inlet manifold bung

[RK5TAR]

Im having real trouble getting the buggered bung out of the car. Because it broke off almost flush with the motor when we took the hose off. If I poke at it too much it starts to break up. WHich I gather is going to be a pain if it does it inside the manifold. Any suggestions please? I would be very grateful as I just want to finish this job so I can test if this was the only reason this car was overheating and to check it doesnt still do it in case the guy I brought the car from kept driving it too much after this problem started and done more damage.

Also, Im going to sound quite dumb, but... The step where you say to remove the belt out of the way, you say to use an 18mm socket... What do I use it on? I noticed the belt is quite firmly on the pulleys, and being as heavy handed as I am will probably break it. Is there a way to create some slack to lift it over the ridge on the pulley wheel thing?
The reason I am confused is my alternator looks different to the one in your photo. Mine has a covering over the fan part that yours shows is exposed.

 

[RK5TAR]

Anyone? I really dont want to have to chip away and break it up if I can help it.

 

[Veriton]

Never needed to change these on my old VR (never thought about em to be truthful), however from how brittle it sounds, you really have no choice but to poke away at it, just try more so to pull it out from the inside (using something small and right angle, ie allen key or something).

FYI you wanna be careful with mixing metals and coolant (brass and alluminum) this can cause "stray voltage" to run through your cooling system, especially on older vehicles, which in turn eats away at the radiator. We had a range rover with significat stray voltage issues caused by brass and alluminum mixing in the radiator coolant, helped along with a magnetic fuel rail, that had to have 4 radiators replaced and about 7-8 months.

 

[LeaThaL]

Anyone? I really dont want to have to chip away and break it up if I can help it.

mine did the same and fell inside the manifold, the easyest thing to do is either get a pick file (its a long thin tool with one end being 45 degrees and the other straight, normally used to remove rubber seals inside hard to get places) and try pull at it towards you from the back or just risk pushing what you have to in to get most out and then whats left, i used my pinky to pull at what i had to, and then i just removed the thermostat housing and thermostat and shoved a hose in there at full speed

 

[RK5TAR]

Thanks guys. I have been trying to pull it towards me. I found the perfect type of tool but the circumference is too big. I have a T socket wrench which I think would be ideal as it has the round bit on it as a stopper for the sockets not to go too far up the wrench. I figured this would apply even pressure on either side of the bung and force it out, the T part giving me good leverage.
Maybe being female Im overthinking it though LOL.

An Allen key is a good point though, have plenty of the stumpy ones laying around.

 

[v6lux]

Did you guys get the broken ones out? Perhaps an ezy-out would do the job or a nail bent over to form a hook and pull it with pliers.

The main thing is the corrosion stopping it and it should come out perpendicular to assist - any sideways tilt will jam it in the hole!

 

[Jake.VScommo]

Did this yesterday to my vp, was a very helpful post cheers. The plastic thing broke into pieces but i managed to get it all out and wack the brass one in. easy fix after all the drama the split pipe caused -.-

 

[Jxfwsf]

Im having real trouble getting the buggered bung out of the car. Because it broke off almost flush with the motor when we took the hose off. If I poke at it too much it starts to break up. WHich I gather is going to be a pain if it does it inside the manifold. Any suggestions please? I would be very grateful as I just want to finish this job so I can test if this was the only reason this car was overheating and to check it doesnt still do it in case the guy I brought the car from kept driving it too much after this problem started and done more damage.

Also, Im going to sound quite dumb, but... The step where you say to remove the belt out of the way, you say to use an 18mm socket... What do I use it on? I noticed the belt is quite firmly on the pulleys, and being as heavy handed as I am will probably break it. Is there a way to create some slack to lift it over the ridge on the pulley wheel thing?
The reason I am confused is my alternator looks different to the one in your photo. Mine has a covering over the fan part that yours shows is exposed.

I've had the rear one break in the past, i'm not saying it's the best idea but pushing it into the manifold and leaving the broken bit in there was the only option i had without removing the intake manifold as there's no room between the rear of the engine and the firewall to get any kind of tool in there to remove it.
The removed piece was fairly brittle so decided to leave it in there, as it's only a small piece of brittle plastic it'll just get chewn up by the water pump into smaller pieces if it ever gets that far or it may get stuck in the thermostat keeping it open and you car will run cooler and have trouble reaching normal operating temp, it's not going to cause much damage, if you can't remove it try breaking it up into small pieces with a screw driver or something.

Step 9. for the above piece, to remove it either insert a set of long nose pylyers into the front and wiggle it from top to bottom or side to side or put a flat blade screwdriver under one side and pry it off side to side. but make sure it doesnt break as its a pain to try and remove random bits of plastic from inside the mainfold like when mine broke on the VR wagon, and once youve got it off give it a nice clean to make sure you would get a good clean seal

in order to clean it maybe add use a small piece of wet n dry or emery paper and move it around lightly with your finger keeping pressure on it to clean any corrosion/gunk out, don't use excessive force and reshape the hole just enough clean it up for a good seal.

 

[Immortality]

Scotchbrite pads work wonders for cleaning without really removing any metal. Polish reasonably well too

Personally, I blocked this on my VN

Cheers

 

[padrickz88]

Scotchbrite pads work wonders for cleaning without really removing any metal. Polish reasonably well too

Personally, I blocked this on my VN

Cheers

Oh really? details/pics? I'm guessing this would keep down intake temps since you wouldn't have coolant running through the intake manifold?