Radiator bleed tap
Discussion
After doing some work on the front of the car, swirlpot, bonnet hinges, radiator etc etc, the rebuild went fine. Now to fill with coolant and bleed the radiator to eliminate air in the radiator, I find that the bleed tap on the top of the radiator has broken 
so some of it is in the radiator. As the engine was ticking over whilst trying to bleed the radiator, I am hoping the missing piece of bleed tap is resting in the bottom of the radiator. Can I have your thoughts on this, pretty please. The radiator is going to be removed again to see if it is in there, I HOPE!!!!!!!!. Is there a chance it has moved around in the system, as I`m concerned about the water pump, thanks in advance for any thoughts.
Stevej
so some of it is in the radiator. As the engine was ticking over whilst trying to bleed the radiator, I am hoping the missing piece of bleed tap is resting in the bottom of the radiator. Can I have your thoughts on this, pretty please. The radiator is going to be removed again to see if it is in there, I HOPE!!!!!!!!. Is there a chance it has moved around in the system, as I`m concerned about the water pump, thanks in advance for any thoughts. Stevej
Yes there's a chance that it has been sucked into the pump and it could be anywhere by now. But the trip from the radiator to the pump would require it to be sucked out of the bottom of the radiator, carried along for some distance and then up several inches. If the engine was only ticking over then there's a good chance that it has settled in the bottom of the radiator, or in the bottom hose just upstream of the pump.
I don't think it would do the pump any hard going through, but I'd be worried that it may be carried into the block and get stuck in a small waterway, inside one of the heads for example. This could block the flow leading to local overheating which could be catastrophic.
It's possible that even if it went into the engine it got right through the heads and ended up stuck behind the stat. It's even possible that it went right through the stat and out into the swirl tank. I doubt that it would ever get carried right through the swirl tank.
If I were you I'd take the rad out and hope the tap falls out. If not, start stripping the external plumbing off and hope you find it. If it has got stuck inside the engine, perhaps you could dislodge it by back-flushing it.
I don't think it would do the pump any hard going through, but I'd be worried that it may be carried into the block and get stuck in a small waterway, inside one of the heads for example. This could block the flow leading to local overheating which could be catastrophic.
It's possible that even if it went into the engine it got right through the heads and ended up stuck behind the stat. It's even possible that it went right through the stat and out into the swirl tank. I doubt that it would ever get carried right through the swirl tank.
If I were you I'd take the rad out and hope the tap falls out. If not, start stripping the external plumbing off and hope you find it. If it has got stuck inside the engine, perhaps you could dislodge it by back-flushing it.
Thank you Peter for your reply and thoughts, somehow this thread has been duplicated, I retrieved the offending article today after work. Very relieved as it was in the bottom of the radiator and luckily hadn`t migrated into the system which as you pointed out could have been catastrophic, thanks again.
Stevej
Stevej
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