Series 3 Draining Coolant

Hi all,

I'm sure this is the world's easiest job, but I cannot for the life of me find the tap to drain the coolant on the cylinder block of my 2.25 diesel Series III. Please could someone give me a tip on where to look.

Thanks, Jamie

Jamie Tyldesley said:

Hi all,

I'm sure this is the world's easiest job, but I cannot for the life of me find the tap to drain the coolant on the cylinder block of my 2.25 diesel Series III. Please could someone give me a tip on where to look.

Thanks, Jamie

Click to expand...

It hides under the exhaust... It is on that side of the engine and is either a wing nut style tap or a solid brass plug ...

If you're flushing the cooling system, remember the heater matrix ...

Dippypud said:

If you're flushing the cooling system, remember the heater matrix ...

Click to expand...

All closed

This one? (Just want to check before opening it incase it's the wrong one)

Thanks

Jamie Tyldesley said:

This one? (Just want to check before opening it incase it's the wrong one)

Thanks

Click to expand...

That looks like the bugger, 13mm, IIRC ....

Dippypud said:

That looks like the bugger, 13mm, IIRC ....

Click to expand...

Thanks so much

Do you really need to touch that? Its one of those things that can go very wrong for a small gain. I tend to keep well away from things screwed into old iron blocks. A freind of mine once craked a block fitting an oil pressure switch.

rob1miles said:

Do you really need to touch that? Its one of those things that can go very wrong for a small gain. I tend to keep well away from things screwed into old iron blocks. A freind of mine once craked a block fitting an oil pressure switch.

Click to expand...

I agree, don't mess about with it. If you need to flush the coolant, remove a hose, drain, refill with water, run engine for a couple of minutes, drain, repeat until water runs clear, refill with correct mix of coolant.

Col

That looks like the remnants of a tap it is brass should come out ok.
You will need a new one or a brass plug the right size.

It's one of those taps with the 'wing-nut' part broken off, they always used to break like that, useless damned things. You might be able to remove the whole as Blackburn has said: it is brass and most likely will turn out but be careful and don't force it. You might be able to source a brass plug at a hydraulics suppliers.
There is much to be said for leaving well alone and flushing the block with a hose.

That's a job to do when the engine is out for a rebuild, then you can drill it and re-tap the thread once its broken off (as they do).

Never taken mine out. I just chuck a garden hose down the thermostat for half an hour.

It’ll be full of crap again in 12 months anyway