Coolant drain plug

[Solitary1]

Can anyone tell me what kind of seal is on the coolant drain bolt? I can just order a new one from fowlers for less than £2 but the £8 postage is hard to swallow.

[Tenerider]

5 minutes ago, Solitary1 said:

Can anyone tell me what kind of seal is on the coolant drain bolt? I can just order a new one from fowlers for less than £2 but the £8 postage is hard to swallow.

Copper washer. Usually these have to be replaced every time, but I know a lot of people who simply reuse them on other parts of engines (oil drain bolts etc).

 

[Peen]

The little bolt on the bottom of the steel coolant tube by the pump? just has a copper washer on it I think, Ive done a couple of coolant changes on mine and never replaced the washer, works fine. If you want to replace it Im sure you can get a bag of copper washers that size for a few pence from somewhere. Cant remember exactly, but think it was an m4 or m5 drain bolt in there.

[Mapbook]

Just reused the copper washer with a light smear of Blue Hylomar gasket sealer on the threads.

[jdub53]

Not sure if it's applicable here, but I used to anneal all of the copper washers on the heads of my 1978 T140 Bonneville and reuse them every time they were removed. IIRC, annealing consisted of heating the washers red hot and then letting them cool before use, which restored the copper's malleable properties. I believe that procedure was in the Triumph shop manual.