Series IIa coolant query

Did anything come out of the block? It is not uncommon for this drain to be blocked by sludge. No other drains. JD

So JD was, like

Now you come to mention it, the block did drain very slowly after the initial gush, and was still dribbling rusty water when I got fed up after about 20 minutes and shut it off. Does this drain tap come out completely (I only loosened it enough to let the water out)? Would it be worth taking off all the hoses and putting a hose through every available orifice?

Thanks for the advice.

available orifice?

I flushed mine out in three parts, the radiator, the heater and the engine. I was changing some of the hoses anyway and so already had them off. I flushed out the heater until that was running clear, likewise the radiator.

I blocked off different pipes to the engine so I could flush through as much as possible in different directions and routes etc. For instance, I closed the drain so I could flush through the block etc. The crap that was in there was like oxtail soup and it was nice to have it changed but it was only because it was a nice hot sunny day and the kids were playing with water outside that I did it. Not too sure I'd be volunteering to try it in this weather as you tend to get pretty wet :) Then again, you could use the hot water supply from the house :) The temp sender turned out to be duff and was reading high, would have been cheesed off it I had gone to all that trouble on that fault alone but the rad hoses were due for replacement so seeing as I was already in there...

Learnt pretty quickly that the better way to undo a jubilee clip is with the small socket and a ratchet extension rather than persevere with the screwdriver and have the clip spin and stick the screwdriver into a hand. You won't have this problem as your fingers will be well numb by then :)

I have a cheap socket set [1] which has the small sizes, and the usual extensions, UJs, and lever ratchets for those. Better than socket on screwdriver for some hoses, but you do risk over-tightening.

[1]The good sockets got nicked about a year ago while the farming was being wound up. These were a cheap metric set from Lidl, if we had any odd jobs to do. But it would have been worth getting to fix the heater hose.

There are probably different taps fitted, but yes, it does come out (mine does anyway) allowing a piece of wire to stir up the sludge.

Definitely!

The 2a handbook only required water in the cooling system, and the earlier models required regular topping up as there is no overflow tank. This means there has probably been a lot of foreign material added over the years, and also a lot of corrosion, so a good cleanout is probably indicated.

JD

So snipped-for-privacy@lardrover.co.uk was, like

Cheers Wayne. I had another go at the weekend. This time I poked around the block drain until it delivered a good squirt, then put the rad plug back on and left a hose dribbling water into the top, and out through the block. I left it like this for a good hour until clear water was emerging, then drained down again and refilled - this time with the antifreeze first (5L) and topped up with water, so at least the concentration will be OK. It took a total of about 8 litres this time (compared to 5 before), so I must have cleared something out. The coolant now looks clear and I'm happy that it's all OK for the winter. I think I'll follow your advice round about next July :-) It's a bit chilly round here at the mo.