On Mar 24, 12:02*pm, Steve Kraus
wrote:
Cast iron tub with hidden stopper down the overflow tube.

The stopper was jammed (probably from lack of use; I mostly take showers)..
I tried loosening with penetrating oil (Lime-Away, too) but to no avail and
now the reach rod has broken free of the stopper from pulling too hard. *I
believe the normal thing would be to reach down with a coat hanger wire
formed into a hook but that's not going to be effective with a stuck
stopper. *How can I loosen it so that has a chance of working?

I'm thinking of running HCl down from the overflow to eat up any scale but
the stopper itself is (if I recall) brass so this might make things worse..
The stopper and passage way is going to have to be very loose for it to be
picked up with a hook.

Have you tried pushing the stopper down to free it?

Since it's so stuck that pulling up resulted in a broken linkage,
perhaps you could free it up by pushing it down, then pulling it up.

If that doesn't work, I don't see too many options other than
disassembly. Since you've mentioned that access is not readily
available, you seem to be in a bit of a pickle.

I wish you luck!