Coolant drain plug on 11D engine

[Andrew HassamParticipant]

Hello,

I have a 1937 French 11BL. Although the car was sold as having a later Perfo engine, it appears to have an even later 11D engine. I want to renew the coolant and would be grateful if someone would confirm that the bolt in the centre of the close-up photo is indeed the cylinder drain plug. All the information I have relates to the earlier engines, and so I am having to find my way round the 11D without any helpful illustrations.

Many thanks,

Andrew

 

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[Larry LewisParticipant]

That is the engine block drain plug. Hopefully it will drain freely and not be clogged.

[Andrew HassamParticipant]

Thanks for  the reassurance.

Andrew

[Ralph MorganParticipant]

The coolant drain on my 1951 engine was blocked, but I took a tip passed to me last week by Jonathan Howard and used a long, small diameter, masonry drill (in preference to a normal metalworking drill, as masonry drills are often longer) to clear it today, rotating it steadily while gripped in a small Mole wrench. After clearing the drill several times of thick black “gunge” there was suddenly a rush of murky coolant from the drain. Luckily I had a suitable vessel underneath to collect it! A good couple of litres of liquid came out, so it is clearly worth making this drain effective to ensure all coolant is removed when draining. I hope that helps, and thanks to Jonathan for the tip!

[Ralph MorganParticipant]

I should have added that I did this with the engine out of the car. I think it could be tricky to get a long drill into the drain hole with the engine in the car, but I’ve not tried.

[Andrew HassamParticipant]

Thankfully the coolant drained freely, though it needed a while with a hosepipe left running through the system before the water came out clear.

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