Now that the weather is turning colder,
I decided that now was the time to drain and refill with fresh antifreeze. Accordingly
I have been running round for the last couple of days with some flushing compound in the radiator so, yesterday, I drained the system, (I had to clear the drain tap with a piece of wire), took the radiator off and reverse flushed it. I also flushed the block out, running the hose through both until the water came out clean. I can’t remember when I last did this; probably not since the engine was out about three years ago. It’s surprising just how much crud accumulates over time. Put the radiator back, refilled with fresh blue antifreeze and took the car on road test. All good, so I thought.
Went into the garage this morning and noticed a patch of antifreeze under the front of the car. The drain tap is leaking! Not much - probably half a pint overnight. I wonder if there is any crud left to settle and bung it up again? The tap doesn’t look as if it has ever been off and I am scared of replacing it in case the old one either breaks off or damages the bottom radiator tank.
Ah well, the joys of running a 90 year old car.......
15-10-2023, 02:40 PM (This post was last modified: 15-10-2023, 02:43 PM by John Mason.)
David, If you want to try and get the old drain tap out use a little heat applied to the tap. Before you start take the car out for a run to get the coolant warm then whilst still warm apply a little more heat with a blow torch. Try unscrewing the tap whilst warm. Whilst there is coolant in the system it will disperse the heat to prevent the solder joints from melting. If you have ever tried to unsolder a copper pipe which has not been fully drained you will understand what I mean. You can heat that pipe for an hour but still the solder will not melt in the joint.
John Mason.
Would you believe it "Her who must be obeyed" refers to my Ruby as the toy.
David, would it not be easier to leave the drain tap in situ (probably best not to disturb its relation with the radiator, and just remove the actual lever, clean it up, lap it if necessary, add some vaseline and replace any of the end seals. I'd rather do that than risk the alternative.
It was the VSCC Vintage trial in Presteigne this weekend and I was asked to be a scruitineer at one of the filter points on Saturday morning. Never has so much authority been placed on someone so unqualified to use it!
Highlight of the morning was inspecting lots of Sevens and some very exotic other cars. Including this Bugatti T13.
Today Liz and I drove our Special over to spectate and I got to photo the said Bugatti after its weekend of trialing. I suggested to the driver that many would question using such a valuable car in trials. His response
“Simple the car isn’t mine!”
In fact it belonged to the guy in the trilby behind who was driving the Bentley .
John. And Bruce. Thanks for your advice. As the leak is slight, I may wait a few days to see if there is any residual crud in the system to seal it up. If not, then I shall consider the next plan of action.
(15-10-2023, 07:11 PM)Reckless Rat Wrote: Add some radweld.
Good idea.
Dont add radweld if you dont need to - it will just clog up any other radiator gallery that is already a bit clogged up.
Are you sure its the drain cock thats leaking and not the bottom rad hose weeping? Ive had a few bottom hoses that are a pain to get to seal and give similar symptoms.
17-10-2023, 11:03 AM (This post was last modified: 18-10-2023, 12:08 AM by Tony Griffiths.)
Needing to take a cylinder head off, I went to the trouble of making a pair of the usual "adapted spark plug pullers" but then thought, why not try the very simple R.Dunford method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajxmuJAxIOE ...and it worked. Oh well, perhaps the next one will need a bit more force.
Link to the long discussion about this sort of job: https://www.austinsevenfriends.co.uk/for...2#pid16219
.
