hattymender Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 Called to see a friend who was struggling to get the sump plug out of an old Mondeo. They have a small 10mm head but the bolt body's about 14mm, the sump's aluminuim. And it was well stuck. I headed for stilsons (nice big ones), he stopped me and headed for camping kit and produced one of those 12v 'drop in cup' heaters (looked suspiciously bent to get element to sit flat on sump, must have done this before). Plugged it in, held it against sump for a few minutes with aid of welding glove and 'hey presto' out came the plug with a slight tap on a10mm spanner. Simples! Obviously heat expanded aluminium sump faster than steel plug and broke the hold on the thread. 12v element doesn't push out enough heat to melt the alloy. Probably. Learn something every day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 novel way to release a sump plug,full marks to your friend for ingenuity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco-Ron Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 Reminds me of a fire call i went to whilst in the fires service........... a kettle element hung ina greenhouse as a heater......... wired up to 5amp cable............. the guy touched it with his clothing........... it wasn't pretty!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoltan Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 He probably also uses the heater element to heat the sump before putting the sump plug in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricky tango Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 but i always thoughts your supposed to drain the oil hot , its what ive done since day one when renewing/ flushing an oil system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&S Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 and he can make a coffee with it afterwards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty_wingnut Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 I wonder if one could be fitted to the water (or oil?) circuit as a form of cheap eberspacher. I have two batteries so hopefully enough power? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 A bit like a block heater? http://www.google.co.uk/url?source=imgres&ct=img&q=https://www.chevygmparts.com/images/block_heater.jpg&sa=X&ei=HIrxTIWwO4K14gaJiaXIAQ&ved=0CAQQ8wc4GQ&usg=AFQjCNG98rW5YMB8wZAQq70JtxB6QCrdVA They exist for 2.25 petrols: http://www.roversnorth.com/store/p-14478-freeze-plug-block-heater-series-ii-iii-225p.aspx Never found any for other LR engines, although if the core plug hole was the same size and there was space internally then any block heater would work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty_wingnut Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Yeah along those lines but something 12v. Obviously it's going to take a fair amount of time to heat up the media to anywhere near either's operating temperature, but as I only do short runs it might save a bit of wear and tear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRecklessEngineer Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 There is not a hope in hell of getting enough power out of a car battery to heat an engine block (or make a significant difference to the temperature inside the cabin either - especially a drafty land rover.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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