Bathtub overflow linkage stuck

[KatieNH]

please excuse any imprecise terminology...I'm a homeowner trying to repair this problem.
I have a Gerber tub overflow linkage stuck in the closed position in the overflow drain. The tub will not drain...so I removed the water. I have removed the face plate from the brass arm and tried pulling straight up, but can't get it out. I have wd-40d down the pipe. The overflow pipe is plastic. The linkage arm is brass. What else can I do?

 

[Reach4]

I would use a small ViceGrip such as the Long Nose Locking Pliers to grab the wire, rather than sticking a screwdriver into the loop. I would pry up, putting something under the pliers to fulcrum against if needed.

Once this is out, you may want to leave it out. Get a rubber stopper if you need one.

I am not a plumber.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Cacher_Chick]

Are you sure that it is stuck in the overflow and it is not that something has jammed the pop-up drain?

 

[FullySprinklered]

cacher is probably on the right track. I would start working the other end, down at the drain. Take a Phillips screwdriver and remove the little grate on the drain and begin your voyage of discovery down there. Snatch out any hair clogs, etc., the go to work with the WD-40. Go back up to the top and get a suitable pair of pliers and try rotating the brass rod one way then the other until it gets loose. No one knows what the point of no return is on a particular problem, but go about it gingerly at first and maybe it'll break loose. Good luck, Katie.