Serious Oil Change Mishap

I cannot believe what I did!

I cannot believe what I did! I used a vacuum pump to drain the oil from my 2004 BF200 via the dip stick tube and the problem is that I had a piece of black electrical tape wrapped around the hard plastic vacuum line to mark how far to insert the tube into a waverunner and that piece of tape slid off and is now inside my Honda BF200 engine! Does anyone know how large the oil pickup screen is inside the oil reservoir area? Am I in big trouble? Any advice is much appreciated!

"That's a new one and clea

"That's a new one and clearly above my pay grade and I won't comment on the first sentence. Hopefully the tape is sitting on the bottom of the pan. So if I were in your shoes, I would first refill it with warm (hot?)oil, trim the engine down as far as it will go, then drain it the right way out of the regular drain hole and hope that the tape blocks the hole enough for you to get a wire hook in there to pull it on through. If that doesn't work after a few tries, then try using a ShopVac fitted with one of those small flexible ends like those used to clean the inside of computers. Otherwise, you're probably off to your friendly dealer for a tear down. More experienced folks on this site may have a better solution."

I agree with using a shop vac

I agree with using a shop vac with enough suction power to hold the tape on the end of the tube as you pull it back up the dip stick tube. Try adding half a litre of oil (each try) first to get the tape floating and making it easier for the suction to draw it to the end of the suction tube. Hopefully you get it in only a few trys.

"yes you have a screen
if you

"yes you have a screen
if you remove the oil drain, it might come out"

Going to start with the wire t

Going to start with the wire this weekend... THANK YOU

Do not run. This will suck it

Do not run. This will suck it down

"If it does not come out your

"If it does not come out your drain, once the oil is drained you could use a bore scope to peek inside to see where is might be. Then maybe you can fish it out as long as it is laying on the bottom...you might get lucky.

If it breaks down into pieces and gets caught in the screen, your oil pressure will suffer and it can hurt your engine."

"Very interesting story, Just

"Very interesting story, Just curious how you made out?"

"The shop vac idea looked best

"The shop vac idea looked best, could be done (with a slender tube) through drain plug as well as down dipstick tube.

Would have likely worked best to first drain the oil and then thoroughly flush with a gallon of mineral spirits (risidual oil would keep tape 'stuck' to internal surface)."

"Hello - a REALLY good friend

"Hello - a REALLY good friend helped me. We removed the lower unit, then inspected the oil pan and the tape was no where to be found. (He scoped it in advance and also saw nothing)

He next decided to unbolt the exhaust manifold by the dip stick, then removed the bolted dip stick assembly and there it was! It was sitting on an extended interior surface immediately below the dip stick hole. I learned my lesson - next time mark things with a marker!"

Glad you solved the problem.

Glad you solved the problem. Thanks for the feedback.