I was just changing my spark plugs and a little debris found its way into the engine - small dried piece of a leaf and little fluid (coolant I believe.) Do I need to take it to a shop? Or will it be ok if I leave it alone?|||You%26#039;re fine. The leaf and fluid will get introduced to the miracle of an intake, compression, and power stroke just before the exhaust stroke sends whatever is left out the tailpipe. Replace the plugs and keep stepping. Before pulling the plugs in the future, blasting the area with some compressed air to get all that crap out of there wouldn%26#039;t be a bad idea.
Now, if you had dropped a screw in there the story would be different.|||If it is just a little bit, you should be able to blow it out by removing the spark plug and cranking the engine over. The piece of leaf will burn to ash and go out the exhaust when you start it up. The fluid will evaporate and leave the same way. A concern would be that the small dried piece of leaf may get lodged in the plug gap before it burns completely and fouls the plug, but you can remove the plug again and clean it if that happens. Its the things that don%26#039;t burn in the combustion chamber that wreak havoc on engines.|||I wouldn%26#039;t worry too much about it. You can leave the spark plug out while cranking the engine over for a couple of seconds. The remnants of the leaf will likely blow back out of the spark plug hole. The liquid that remains within the cylinder will evaporate when you restart the engine and the cylinder goes through the combustion process. As long as it was just a few droplets, it should be fine. If you somehow managed to pour in something like half a cup of liquid into the cylinder, that%26#039;s a different story...liquids do not compress and that would mean a broken piston and/or a bent rod.
I agree with the post suggesting to blow out any debris in the spark plug crevice before removing the spark plugs next time to avoid the same thing happening again.|||if it is in the cylinder try to vaccum it out. you could also get a rad on the end of a pair of needlenose pliers and try to wipe up the coolant and grab the leaf. You really shouldn%26#039;t try to start it with the stuff in there, especially the coolant.|||If you can get hold of a vacuum suck it out or let the plug out and turn the engine over a few times that should push it out the same hole it went in. If you have liquid in there you want to get it out asap.I don%26#039;t think either way will cause any damage|||You mean it fell through the spark plug hole into the cylinder? if that%26#039;s all it was, a little fluid and a leaf, don%26#039;t worry. There is no problem.
