Good day, people of Mud.
It's the time of the year for a coolant flush. My LC is a 1994 with over 152K on the odo. I was going through the procedures specified by Beowulf in the FAQ sans flush kit and things suddenly went bad.
After flushing the block and putting back the brass bolt back, I proceeded next to to draining the rad but after a couple of turns on the drain cock, it broke
(I've smaller hands so I did not remove the shroud anymore lest I break it again ).
Unable to flush the rad, I removed the block plug again, jetted H2O into the rad and once overflowing had the engine started with heater on full. In effect, was flushing though the block and uncertain what this deviation will do, I did this step only for a couple of minutes.
Now, what to do with the broken rad drain plug? Called Simon, a certified LC wrench and he suggested heating a flat screwdriver and make a depression on the plastic with which to turn it. Screwdriver BBQ anyone? Got it out but alas, nothing similar on any of the major stores. Toyota dealership-spare parts closed on Saturday. If only CDan could email one my way.
Needed to get the LC running, asked Simon if can use a bolt instead. So I went back to Canadian Tire and looked for a plastic bolt. Found a 3/8-16 x 1-1/2 USS Nylon hex head cap screw - a little longer but the groove pattern was a match.
So now my rad drain plug is a cap screw. Will this do considering that it is nothing similar in design and whether it has the same tolerance to hot coolant or not. Or, do I need to replace it with the winged OEM? I'm hoping that it will work because it is now much easier to drain the rad next time. Socket wrench with extension and your done!
Thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
It's the time of the year for a coolant flush. My LC is a 1994 with over 152K on the odo. I was going through the procedures specified by Beowulf in the FAQ sans flush kit and things suddenly went bad.
After flushing the block and putting back the brass bolt back, I proceeded next to to draining the rad but after a couple of turns on the drain cock, it broke
(I've smaller hands so I did not remove the shroud anymore lest I break it again ).
Unable to flush the rad, I removed the block plug again, jetted H2O into the rad and once overflowing had the engine started with heater on full. In effect, was flushing though the block and uncertain what this deviation will do, I did this step only for a couple of minutes.
Now, what to do with the broken rad drain plug? Called Simon, a certified LC wrench and he suggested heating a flat screwdriver and make a depression on the plastic with which to turn it. Screwdriver BBQ anyone? Got it out but alas, nothing similar on any of the major stores. Toyota dealership-spare parts closed on Saturday. If only CDan could email one my way.
Needed to get the LC running, asked Simon if can use a bolt instead. So I went back to Canadian Tire and looked for a plastic bolt. Found a 3/8-16 x 1-1/2 USS Nylon hex head cap screw - a little longer but the groove pattern was a match.
So now my rad drain plug is a cap screw. Will this do considering that it is nothing similar in design and whether it has the same tolerance to hot coolant or not. Or, do I need to replace it with the winged OEM? I'm hoping that it will work because it is now much easier to drain the rad next time. Socket wrench with extension and your done!
Thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
