While doing a top end rebuild my dipstick broke off at the block. How am I going to get the piece of tubing out of the block so I can put in a new one? The block is in the car and I really don't want to pull it. Does anyone know of a special tool that would work?

 

vice grips.

Should come out.

 

He said at the block so Im guessing its way down in the tube.

 

Ahh I didnt see that for some reason.

Slide Hammer and small bearing puller, but there isnt much room to do that with but it might work.

You could also try finding a screw that is just large enough to bite on the inside of the tube but not wedge the tube against the block, then try vice grips or a slide hammer.

Worst case, pull the pan and get at it from below.

 

After looking at a picture of one I see that there may be 2 - 3 inches of tubing sticking down in the oil pan. I'll try something that will hook it from the inside but it looks like the oil pan may have to come off. I hope it will come off without having to pull the engine.

 

Might be crazy, but how about a really small toggle bolt?

Or craft yourself something similar, that when it exits the other end of the tube, in the oil pan area (if it sticks that far down past the internals of engine block), it becomes bigger than the tube itself, so you can pull up on it, to pull it up enough out of the block that you can these use vise grips once it's not flush with the engine block?

 

I had the same problem a couple years ago on a 350 Chev. I bent the end of a metal coat hanger into a V shape. A little less than 1/2". Shoved it down into the broken piece of dipstick tube and yanked real hard a few times and it came out. Worth mentioning: I wrapped the other end of the hanger around the handle of a hammer to get more leverage.

 

I pulled the engine over the weekend. After removing the oil pan it took several whacks with a hammer to get it loose from the block. While I was into it this far I checked out the rod and main bearings. Some were wore down into the copper so it's time to rebuild the bottom end too. After looking at parts prices I decided to look around for another engine for sale with less miles. I found a 96 3.8 for $150 with around 90k on it. I just tore it down today and found it to be in worse shape than my 94 with 208k on it! Now my dilema is which block to rebuild if I go that route. Is there any difference in the blocks? I noticed the rods and pistons are different. The 96 rods have bolts in the caps vs studs with nuts on the 94. They also appear to be machined instead of cast. The pistons on the 96 are a little shorter skirted and the rings are thinner. Also there are no valve cutouts on them where the 94's do have. Are these improvements in performance or would it make any difference?