Water drain tap

[Andrew]

Hello all herald 13/60 question

where is the water drain tap on the engine.

 

Thanks in advance

[Adrian]

Not sure about the herald block but the GT6 is the bolt on the left under the core plug, not a tap at all although I think one would fit so maybe changed at some point. In either case I’d have thought it would be at a similar level.

[Clive]

Heralds are indeed the same. And the blanking plug is better than the taps (they tend to seize/snap and need to be unwound, same thread as the plug)

[Badwolf]

I'm sure that I too have a drain tap where that bolt head is. I will check.

[AndyTV8]

I agree the taps can seize, although just like any other valve, it tends to only be the case if they have not been used - I just flip mine open and closed a couple of times each year and it seems to do the job.

..... Andy 

[Chris A]

Mine did the opposite of seize, it would open too easily. After giving the engine a bit of a clean one day I went for a drive not realising the drain tap had been caught by the cleaning cloth and was slightly open, I had to stop off at a roadside bar and get water ( honest) to top up the cooling system to get me home. I replaced it with a plug soon after that.

[dougbgt6]

I got mine out and nothing happened☹️ A lot of poking with wire coat hanger and a small screwdriver made no difference, all I got was black casting sand.

The drain plug is in a small reservoir lower down and to one side of the main waterway. It is common for the reservoir to get blocked off with casting sand when the block is manufactured.

This is not a serious problem, it can be resolved next time the head’s off, poking from above, but my block was 40 years old before I discovered the blockage.

Doug

[Andrew]

Thank you all is it nessarry to drain the block when changing the anti freeze

[Clive]

No, but I would fully drain, fill with tapwater and run up to temp, then drain again. Maybe even chuck some flushing stuff in especially if the coolant is at all murky.

Then add fresh antifreeze mix at 30% concentration.

[Herald948]

12 hours ago, dougbgt6 said:

I got mine out and nothing happened☹️ A lot of poking with wire coat hanger and a small screwdriver made no difference, all I got was black casting sand.

The drain plug is in a small reservoir lower down and to one side of the main waterway. It is common for the reservoir to get blocked off with casting sand when the block is manufactured.

This is not a serious problem, it can be resolved next time the head’s off, poking from above, but my block was 40 years old before I discovered the blockage.

Doug

Perhaps you've been lucky, Doug, esepcially if your engine hasn't been running towards the hot side! I've often encountered similar "blockage" there; invariably, I would keep at it until I'd broken through the crud and silt and rust and coolant started gushing out as it should. Just as invariably, that action would (for me) bring running temperatures down significantly!

[Pete Lewis]

this  begins to sound  like a    OAP  NHS operation we can look forward to 

Pete

[Chris A]

10 hours ago, Andrew said:

Thank you all is it nessarry to drain the block when changing the anti freeze

If you have any doubts about the state of the cooling system I would completely drain the system, flush through with water under pressure, including the heater, with a hose pipe. I found the hose was a good fit to the heater pipe so I could blast it all through. Flush radiator, of course. I also used a flushing product, can't remember which, following the instructions before a refill with coolant.

The products aren't expensive, doesn't take too much time but does give peace of mind.

[dougbgt6]

Ordinary washing soda is very effective, put it in, take it for a run. Don’t leave it in the system for more than a couple of days, it attacks aluminium. Although, the Ali in our engines is not “high tech”

Doug