Series 2 Flushing and changing coolant

Stretch said:

Oh yeah - I forgot to add some other tips I've learnt along the way.

Owning a 1990s Mercedes has taught me to be more wary of coolant choice - this isn't directly relevant to a stock series Land Rover but none the less this information might help.

Steel / iron engine blocks mated to aluminium alloy heads can end up with corrosion problems on head gaskets. As a result I now like to use Hylomar when ever possible!

Even though it isn't called for in the workshop manual for my Series 2a having seen the crappy thin gaskets that get given to you from most Land Rover parts sources I've boosted their sealing abilities by lightly coating the mating surfaces with Hylomar before fitting the gaskets.

Pitting on engine block and head surfaces can be helped by filling with epoxy fillers / glues. I think even GM recommend it on some of their engines (eeek!) so on parts of cooling systems where you get pitting on parts where hoses fit, epoxy might help you get through to the next MOT. On the whole, however, I have found the cost of replacing with new for the Series 2a to be quite reasonable - but - for the Mercedes it is usually a different budget busting price ball park...

....when fitting rubber / rubber-like plastic parts that are a tight fit I like to use KY jelly. I know it isn't exactly meant to be used for this purpose but it is famous for not eating into rubber. A light smearing can help you get over that ridge.

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When I worked on the buses, we used Hylomar on almost every gasket, when we didn't have a gasket in the stores, we just used Hylomar on the mating surfaces. It's great stuff but now expensive. I've used body filler to plug radiator leaks without issue. I don't think I would have the nerve to go into a shop to buy KY jelly, I use Vaseline.

Col

Cue a terrible old joke: The elderly couple who confused putty with KY jelly: their windows fell out....
I'm sure it could be adapted.

Stretch said:

At the risk of upsetting the apple cart I have the following comments to make.
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And at the risk of flipping the apple card completely over, I'll reply again.

Yup, I agree with pretty much everything you've said there. I've never (in the last 25 years or so) mixed coolants wherever possible. I have a car with a Rover K-series in it, so know only too well how sensitive some engines can be to coolants and their additives.

And yes, been there, done that when taking the engine out. I don't doubt LR wouldn't have fitted the tap without good reason, but I was trying to establish whether it really was critical to use it to get the coolant level below the head, or just a convenience to save the user from needing to wrestle with radiator hoses. If the latter, then I'd take the 'inconvenience' to avoid damaging the tap. That's really all I was trying to understand.

Drawing a line, now. Time to move on from this thread.

This post takes some beating 62 replies to flush a cooling system.

63.
I thought I should explain why these little taps evoke such fear. Its not just the ones on the block, those on the bottom of radiators are equally dangerous.
1 You look at the little drain tap with its 2 ears and get a warm feeling, if you even need to drain the engine there is this lovely little tap.
2 The day comes and you try to turn it, its stuck so you put some pliers on the ears.
3 the ears turn, happy days! they keep turning, and turning. Unhappy day.
4 The ears come off, now you have to put a bigger set of pilers on the bit that's left, but its brass so it will free, of course it will.
5 Its snaps off. Now when you look at your engine you see the snapped off tap. its a blemish and it preys on your mind, It has to come out!!
6 There not much space so you get a dodgy 90 deg drill adaptor and start drilling.
7 Just as it breaks through the drill jams, twists the 90 deg drive and the drill breaks. Drips of brown water now run down from the broken drill.
8 But you're not beaten, there's just space to to work a stud remover into the gap by the broken drill. Best get a decent one, chrome molly with a fine taper.
9 The stud remover gets a good purchace, now you are winning. On goes the torque, there's a "crack", you've done it.
10 No you haven't, there's now more water and its coming through a fine line that reaches 2 or 3 inches from the hole with the stud extractor in.
11 You spend the rest of the day researching a) plastic metal, b) cast iron welding, c) a used block and engine rebuild, d) a used engine.

Disclamier - obviously I have no knowledge of any of these events and everything here is purely fictitious........