Humorous drain plug sizing

[Lonnie]

Has anyone noticed how the radiator drain is so small? It takes forever to drain 8 gallons of coolant out of a 1/4" hole.
Pulling the lower hose did not look like a fun adventure...
Took me all day to flush the system a few times to get it clean, even while using the second drain plug on the engine.

Conversely, I attempted to drain some fuel from the fuel tank to look for sediment/water.
Crack open a 1-1/2" plug slightly & fuel sprays everywhere when I only want to drain a small amount & not lose any.
At least my shoes have a nice shine to them now...

Wish they had the small drain on the fuel tank & the huge one on the radiator.
Just my random thought for the day....

 

[Gunzy]

Remember, this is done with Government logic in play.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I was working on a 5ton with a buddy. When he opened the drain for the radiator, nothing came out. He asked me if I took the cap off, I said yup. He the proceeded to apply air pressure to the drain petcock. I heard a woosh and when I turned around, I saw a jet of coolant spraying 14ft up in the air, out of the rad. fill port. Needless to say, my buddy was madder than a wet hen, but as wet as a hen could get!

 

[Gunzy]

I was working on a 5ton with a buddy. When he opened the drain for the radiator, nothing came out. He asked me if I took the cap off, I said yup. He the proceeded to apply air pressure to the drain petcock. I heard a woosh and when I turned around, I saw a jet of coolant spraying 14ft up in the air, out of the rad. fill port. Needless to say, my buddy was madder than a wet hen, but as wet as a hen could get!

I have to laugh only because I have done that. Now I remove the drain and gently poke wire into it to start it draining. Wet hen, that's a good one. LMAO

 

[Lonnie]

The things you find amusing while being frustrated.

My other is there are a ton of bolts holding the water pump in.
The lower one feels like it is going to break off.
I can loosen them enough that antifreeze squirts everywhere, but the pump will still not rotate to tension the belt.
I know this will ultimately lead to a few hundred dollar, all day adventure....
All I want to do is tighten the belt a little.

 

[Cruceno]

I remove the drain and gently poke wire into it to start it draining.

This. I just flushed my system last week and when I first cracked the drain, nothing came out. I poked a zip tie (it was the closest thing I had handy) into the drain and a thick sludge finally worked its way out, followed by the nasty coolant. I flushed and flushed and flushed some more until it came out clear. Then added a coolant filter system.

 

[Jakelc15]

If your belt isn't slipping I'd just leave that water pump alone. Once you break that seal on the pump it almost always leaks. You'll be draining the coolant again and removing all the belts and pump to put a little rtv on that copper washer.

 

[Lonnie]

The belt is really loose... probably an inch of movement.
It stays on & the engine does not run hot, but it is definitely not right.

My biggest fear is the lower bolt that is very hard to turn... if it breaks, that could turn into a major project.

 

[73m819]

If your belt isn't slipping I'd just leave that water pump alone. Once you break that seal on the pump it almost always leaks. You'll be draining the coolant again and removing all the belts and pump to put a little rtv on that copper washer.

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT put RTV on the copped sealing ring, you will NEVER be able to adjust the belt again, the reason the pump will not adjust is because no ANTI-SIEZE was used on the install, when you pull the pump, use a good amount of ANTI-SIEZE on the pump side of the sealing ring and the mounting bolts, if the pump/sealing ring install is done CORRECTLY, the pump should adjust with the mounting bolts loosened to where the lock washers are JUST relaxed, then use a 3 lb hammer and a drift pin (punch) to rotate the pump, the pump is NOT supposed to be adjusted by just twisting by hand.

 

[jonesal]

The TM calls for GAA ("Put light coat of GAA grease on o-ring (Figure 3, Item 4), mount o-ring on water pump body"), but I like the idea of anti-sieze. I would think that would lead to better success down the road, especially if it's been there for years.

Al Jones
M923 that needs a water pump belt adjustment...

 

[73m819]

The reason the TM calls for GAA and not anti-sieze is because that is just one more thing that is NOT needed to be supplied

 

[juanprado]

On the flushing I found lots of nastys in the coolant reservoir and heater core along with the bottom of the radiator as you found out. Don't forget to flush those also.

When I changed the water pump because of a belt failure, I did find some cruddy bolts but all of them loosened up ok. I would change them all and use antisieze on the threads. If you need to pull the pump, I would change it not just the silly copper crush gasket. Expect it to leak once disturbed. It is absolutely the worst designed water pump known to have been engineered with any anyone that allegedly had a degree and no common sense.

Available at Napa Haldex rw1174x

Good luck and yes it is a major job.

 

[Jakelc15]

My copper washer is a little worn, when I tried to adjust my belt it leaked. When I removed the pump there was red rtv on it. That's why it didn't reseal. Now it has black rtv on it and won't get adjusted again until the belt fails! That belt isn't suppose to have a whole lot of tension on it like an alternator would. So that belt should last a long time.
I do agree that anti seize is best. I should have replaced the washer and used it.

 

[Lonnie]

I see the parts stores think highly of those pumps from $180 rebuilt to about $280 new.

Makes me even more anxious to start the project...lol

 

[crasheej]

Parts for big toys are not cheap or free.

 

[Rifleman]

73m819, ah yes a fellow mechanic that believes in taking the time to use anti seize. I can't tell you how many times i had to use the shops 50 ton press to remove a pulley shiv from a motor just because the mechanic got in a hurry and didn't use any anti seize.

One member here made the comment about how bad the design of our trucks water pumps are. Well i have to say i worked with lots of design engineers over the years, and never once did any of them ever stop to think about how hard it was going to be for the mechanic in the field to work on their design.

 

[Lonnie]

I grew up being a mechanic before becoming an engineer.
It puts things in a whole new perspective.

Suddenly you design in enough wrench clearance around a bolt, or make sure routine maintenance items are actually serviceable.
This water pump definitely made me wonder.