Core plug rusted through.

[roguevogue]

My 95 Tdi Discovery lost it's water last week, I naturally assumed the head gasket had gone.

Upon further examination I discovered that the water was running out the back of the engine as quick as I could put it in. I asked around and the general concensus seemed to be the core plug in the back of the head.

Having removed the head the awful truth was exposed, it was the core plug in the block, hard up against the bulkhead!

I avoided the temptation to slash my wrists and started to try and find a way to fix it without removing the engine.

I removed the engine mounts from the chassis and block, removed the viscous fan unit and lowered the whole engine-gearbox unit onto the steering box, gaining about 2 inches more clearance from the bulkhead, a total of about 3 inches. After removing the sound deadening mat, with the aid of a mirror, I could see the offending plug.

I was all for bending a lever and trying to bend and bodge the core plug out but Paul (Wightman) suggested that he could weld a bolt onto the plug and pull it out in one. So, with the view in the mirror and a welding rod bent at 90 degrees he did, indeed, weld an M10 bolt onto the plug sufficient to put a plate on it and wind it out with a spanner!

Having removed the old plug I fitted a new one (74p including VAT! (Thanks SimonR)) with the aid of a Carver clamp between the plug and the bore of number 3 cylinder, easy.

So, basically, thankyou to Paul for his, as always, invaluable help and of course the use of his Transit while my car is broken.

[Night Train]

I remember a similar thing happening to a friend's Series Land Rover. We cut a round hole in the bulkhead and got at it that way. The hole was then covered over with a steel disc and some self tappers for future access. Can't remember what engine it was though, BMC diesel perhaps.

[Mark]

lots cheaper than my 300 tdi issues from the last week or so then...

nice solution tho.

[SteveG]

I'm waiting for the "You should have pulled the engine out, as it only takes a few minutes and it's really easy" post.

[ciderman]

It can be frustrating when a small part that costs so little can lead to some major work without some ingenious way around it ,

Nice one ,

Night trains post reminded me of a simular job I did on a transit , Gearstick out , heater box out , hole cutter through the bulkhead , to do a core plug , Lot better than taking the head off .

[steve_d]

Had a core plug fail up behind the manifold on SHMBOs XJ6.

Cleaned the area with a wire brush in flexi drive and coated the whole area with half an inch of body filler. It was still there 5 years later when the car went to the breakers.

Steve

[mmgemini]

Had a core plug fail up behind the manifold on SHMBOs XJ6.

Cleaned the area with a wire brush in flexi drive and coated the whole area with half an inch of body filler. It was still there 5 years later when the car went to the breakers.

Steve

That's a good one.

Ome of our mechanics went to a 550 FG. Core plug gone. He cut a piece off a tree branch and hammered the piece of branch into the hole.....

mike

[JST]

excellent, good fix, but now you will have to find something else to break on it so you can beg Pauls van for the next round!

[ciderman]

Ome of our mechanics went to a 550 FG.

mike

Blimey , a 550 FG , That must of been some time ago My ole man used to drive one of them and he is old .

[western]

Blimey , a 550 FG , That must of been some time ago My ole man used to drive one of them and he is old .

for those who don't know what a 550FG is

[mmgemini]

In yellow with SUNBLEST please Ralph.

A truly horrable engine. If you used Esi Start on them they knocked the points off the top of the pistons, then started to smoke.

Broken fuel pips were nearly a daily occurance. Welding fuel filter brackets at a service taught me to arc weld.

That was my last real job. 1984 I was made redundant from there. Was it really that long ago

mike

[ciderman]

It was a Mothers Pride one my ole chap drove , Nice and warm in the winter but hellish on a summers day , but we did drive around with the doors open .

Oooops sorry I think off topic a bit .

[mmgemini]

We also had a Mothers Pride depot in Stockton.

Despite both transport managers telling each set of fitters that we were not to lend parts to the other company. We both did.

mike

[rtbarton]

A friend of mine put an FG engine in a Series IIa Landrover! Called it the Funky Gibbon ( or F***ing G*t).

I had the core plug on the rear of a Perkins 4236 in my Range Rover fail. Cut a hole in the bulkhead and fitted a slightly smaller core plug inside the original one. It was the cup type rather than the disc type.