Intercooler Weekend

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by moorgate

A little slower to come up to temperature, because I got the oil gack off the bottom of the water radiator

That'll have no bearing on how fast the engine reaches temperature so if it's slow to warm up, something else is causing it.

[moorgate]

going to give it a few more observation sessions - one can worry too much about these things!

[moorgate]

Things you don't want to find under your car following an intercooler upgrade; the snapped-off end of the radiator drain tap! I guess all I can do with that is araldite over the end left in the bottom of the rad, and when next there is some need to drain the rad, just bin the whole thing and drop in a new one...

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by moorgate

Things you don't want to find under your car following an intercooler upgrade; the snapped-off end of the radiator drain tap! I guess all I can do with that is araldite over the end left in the bottom of the rad, and when next there is some need to drain the rad, just bin the whole thing and drop in a new one...

....... or just remove the bottom hose to drain it.
If it's sealed correctly, having no drain plug is neither here nor there.

[moorgate]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

....... or just remove the bottom hose to drain it.
If it's sealed correctly, having no drain plug is neither here nor there.

It doesn't seem to leak, though I am not quite sure when it finally snapped, since I found it on the floor today and the old Dog went though a *horrible* journey out to Slough and back in the middle of the week. If it snapped today then my paranoid reaction is that maybe the head of the "bolt" bit is what stops the threaded part from coming undone. Danger Danger Will Robinson etc...

Hence the sudden interest in Araldite.

[cheshired5]

If it's not leaking, there's no problem though it's odd that it's snapped in the first place.
They need little force to undo and replace and there's the lower radiator protector trim too so how could it have been damaged?

[moorgate]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

If it's not leaking, there's no problem though it's odd that it's snapped in the first place.
They need little force to undo and replace and there's the lower radiator protector trim too so how could it have been damaged?

very easily, by me. It was getting chewed when I tried mole grips on the principle that being plastic, it couldn't be tight. I switched to a ring spanner and it was very stiff, so that I was feared for it's integrity. Then when I did it up again, I was afraid of a leak, so I tightened it.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by moorgate

very easily, by me. It was getting chewed when I tried mole grips on the principle that being plastic, it couldn't be tight. I switched to a ring spanner and it was very stiff, so that I was feared for it's integrity. Then when I did it up again, I was afraid of a leak, so I tightened it.

Mole grips and a spanner? Now I understand how it's got mangled.
It's one of those fittings where you're best not to improvise so if you haven't got a suitable deep socket, it's definitely worth waiting until you do.

[moorgate]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

Mole grips and a spanner? Now I understand how it's got mangled.
It's one of those fittings where you're best not to improvise so if you haven't got a suitable deep socket, it's definitely worth waiting until you do.

The spanner was exactly the depth of the nut faces of the part, and as a ring spanner, was gripping it just as a long socket would do. I've got a set of those hollow passthorugh sockets anyway, but on this occasion I decided that the spanner would be just as good for integrity purposes, as far as the bolt-shaped bit was concerned. No waiting required.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by moorgate

The spanner was exactly the depth of the nut faces of the part, and as a ring spanner, was gripping it just as a long socket would do. I've got a set of those hollow passthorugh sockets anyway, but on this occasion I decided that the spanner would be just as good for integrity purposes, as far as the bolt-shaped bit was concerned. No waiting required.

A socket and a spanner don't turn a fixing in the same way.
They apply force very differently and whilst that often doesn't matter, with the radiator drain plug, you're better to use a socket.