Hey Gang,

I was replacing the power booster vacuum line and the bottom of the retaining clip/o-ring broke and a good chunk of the elbow tubing fell into the intake manifold. Now I'm screwed since this piece will have to be removed from the intake at all costs. Do I need to remove the intake to get the pieces out or can I maybe fish it out through the throttle body opening? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3654342/20130221_174835.jpg

 

Something similar to this happened to me.

I was squirting carb cleaner into the throttle body of the Metro, and the plastic straw of the nozzle shot into the intake manifold.
Inspecting with a flash light, no straw could be seen, so the straw had fallen down into one of the runners.

Pulling the manifold off would be a pain in the ****, so I was going to try all my options before doing that.

I had a visual inspection kit, with a micro tv camera at the end of a snaking cable. I picked this up at harbor freight. Using this tool I discovered the straw at the intake valves in runner 3.

I removed the throttle body, but that did not give me any more opening to get my hand in.

I tried tape on the snaking cable, but that did not work. The remote grabbers, designed for this type of situation, could not close enough to grasp the straw.

So trying something totally different, I fashioned a mini vacuum hose assembly from a transmission fluid funnel tube, a crevice extension, and a dustbuster vacuum. I used duct tape (duck tape, ) to fasten it all together and seal it up.
Well, it worked. I vacuumed the straw out of the runner.

Since I am not familiar with the design of your intake manifold and where the elbow fell into it, I can't provide a known solution. However, you can try the remote grabbers (available at most auto parts stores) or fashion your own smaller vacuum cleaner hose for exploration into your manifold.

If your engine is throttle by wire, you will need to remove the throttle body to begin your search. If you can remove the IDT valves, you might get better access.

Good Luck, I hope you get that bugger out of there.

 

That's pretty cool you were able to accomplish this, I will look into it. Thanks!