To start, I just got a new reservoir, lower hose, and t-stat in May. Before this my '96 Disco was leaking coolant and overheating.

Everything was fine with the cooling system until earlier this week I began to notice coolant leaking again... This time was not as bad since I was having no problems with my disco overheating (temp gauge read normal). I was having to add coolant everyday, though. Well, last night, the gauge was way up and the reservoir was drained. Earlier today I pulled it into the garage, filled the reservoir and watched.



Well, I was having coolant leaking from the opening where the cap broke off right there on the left side of the radiator. The cap broke off yesterday and came off easily. Anyone have any ideas as to what the problem could be? Where could I get another cap?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

How'd the cap break? It's like 4 bucks at atlantic british. Stick a knife (safety first) or a chisel in there, smack the f'er out and replace. If you're losing coolant, you're not heating effectively and introducing air into the system. Both no-nos. Also, check your flow. When it's hot at idle with your heat running do you have good flow through the top of the rad? through the reservoir? Finally make sure theres no mud or leaves or anything between your ac condenser and your rad. These things will all also affect your ability to cool. Finally, someone will mention it if i dont, check belt routing and that your fans blow, not suck.

 

I was having some leaking from the plug earlier this week. Well, I tried to screw it off using my hand and it easily broke off. Before it broke off it was leaking some through the plug, but after it broke off it was leaking a LOT. I'm hoping the brass plug will make a huge difference...

 

uhhh, yeah, if there was a hole in your rad then you're def going to see a difference with a new plug

 

If I may offer another technique for removing the fill plug from the rad.... Rather than sticking a Knife into the plug and doing something semi-dangerous, how about carefully drilling a few 1/8" holes in a straight line, in the center of the plug, in order to tightly fit a large size flat screwdriver. Or stick a fork in your radiator (figuratively)... if it is old and or original it is probably in need of a really good cleaning / rodding or even replacement anyway.

just sayin'...

 

Extract plug by safe means. Replace with brass plug from hardware store - local. Might use a little teflon tape. 1/2 inch NPT.

 

Ok, this also happened to me last year. If you don't feel like waiting from AB, the dealer has them for $10. I heated up a knife stuck it in waited for it to cool and it came right out.

 

I like Cosmo's odea. I would avoid pounding on it, use some finesse so you don't damage that 16 year old rad beating on it.

Another thing I do since I have a large air compressor in my garage stall is to blow the dust out of the rad and a/c condenser coils. I did this right after buying mine since there were signs of dried mud where the previous owner had gotten in some deep mud as well as me taking it thru some puddles on a trail ride. I was amazed at how much of a sandstorm I created. There was dried up mud, red dust clouds like a Sahara SandStorm. That went on for about an hour. I later ripped the old blanket off the inside of the hood and blew it down real good again.

Today was the first time I had repeated that effort in over two years, and I was downright amazed at the quantity of dust that came from so many areas of the grille.
I figure the shop air can't really damage it, but it flat clears out the caked up sand and road dust that seems to collect. When my son drove it last winter, the steel mills here used the debris from their furnaces to cover their parking lots for improved traction. That sludge adheres everywhere and is really a bitch to clean off.

 

He already has a hole in the center of the bolt. They're hollowed out. Use a BIC lighter to either a flathead or an outdoor knife for 30 seconds. The plug is already weak from having coolant run through it at engine operating temperatures. If u have the flathead or knife hot enough it'll go into it like melted butter. No pounding necessary. Let it cool for a minute and it'll screw out.

 

You can use your thumb and press on the plug and twist it out, thats why we have finger prints, for friction to grab stuff and not drop it, God did not give us finger prints for the FBI to keep tabs on us.

And yes, just like already mentioned, the hardware store has brass plugs, wrap the thread with teflon tape, screw in the bass plug and be done with it, it will cost you $5.