Falling at the last hurdle (engine block drain plug)
Turbo Mini Forums

god dammit! nothing goes as you expect it with a mini does it, in a way i should come to expect that, hmm, im sure that makes sense.

anyway, today was the day to fire up the new engine, everything plummed in, oil pressure perfect when cranking over with the starter, final checks, oh yea time to fill with coolant.

pouring in the coolant and im looking forward to firing it up, when i notice a growing puddle of pink fluid by my feet, all the coolant i am pouring in the top is ending up on the floor!

torch to the rescue and coolant is peeing out of a hole in the back of the engine i never even noticed before. it is of course the engine drain plug. ffs, how did i miss that.

as it happens my donor engine doesnt have this hole on it (strange?), so no plug to take from that, any ideas what size the plug is? is it the same thread as anything else on the engine i might have laying around even if i just need to shorten the length of it. i really want to fire the engine up tomorrow and not have to wait for parts.

this is the part new:

http://minispares.com/Product.aspx?ty=pb&pid=33258

Edited by Simon on 16th Jan, 2010.

http://turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=170151

im going to go out on a limb and say try a std temperature sensor or it could be the same thread as an mg manifolds servo takeoff bolt.
i think it was fitted to the early a+ blocks but im no expert

the std temp sensor was the first thing i tried too, but its smaller than that.

thanks for the suggestion tho.

you are right that the temp sensor and manifold survo bolt are the same thread tho!

http://turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=170151

our van has this bung too. deffo early a+ blocks

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

Cant remember the part number but they are available from Halfords, same size as one of the sump plugs.

http://turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=170151

If it's the same as the "A" blocks, the thread is so close to 7/16" UNF that it makes no difference.

The earlier blocks had a drain valve there that had a tapered male thread (so probably isn't actually UNF as there is no standard for tapered UNF) but the female thread in the block is parallel and has the same dimensions as 7/16" UNF as far as it is possible to measure so even if it's not exactly 7/16" UNF, a 7/16" UNF setscrew (bolt with threads right up to the head) cut down to the right length and put in with a copper washer or loctite has worked for me in the past.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???