DTSFab.com (Desert, Trail and Sand)
General Discussion => Product Reviews => Topic started by: artie on edge on March 12, 2009, 05:41:20 PM
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Like everyone else I bought one of these lil Civic Rads off the internet. Great value and so far they are peforming well.
I havent used mine as yet and was moving it into a safe place when I noticed something.
The o-ring seal around the drain tap had perished, see the pics following. It wouldnt hurt to source a nylon washer for this bit, or like im doing putting a metal plug in the hole sealed with thread tape or a sealing compound.
Just a heads up to check yours guys, what a stupid way to lose an engine... yesit is under pressure when warmed.
(https://dtsfab.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi293.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm54%2Fartieonedge%2F13march09026.jpg&hash=4f684b815f782f9c6755f7c42c2d2e238998b42f)
(https://dtsfab.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi293.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fmm54%2Fartieonedge%2F13march09025.jpg&hash=1354bdd95ad79da2960522f352b9bdb60aa52014)
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Just go to to your nearest supply house and buy a VITON o-ring and the problem is permanently solved. That's likely a cheapo EPDM o-ring.
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Mine has one of those brass valves that you unscrew to drain the fluid.
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Hey, thanks for posting that. I'll have to replace mine.
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I still need to buy one. What sellers did you guys buy from? I want the complete unit with fan. I see many of them and many prices. just want to buy from someone who had had good experience with.
Bug where did you get yours from? (seller)?
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Guys, Artie,that is a straight thread bung.It is not a taper pipe thread . Asking for trouble mixing the 2.
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you may be able to tap it with a NPT though. I believe the pitch is the same. I would just replace the O-ring if it were mine!
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I am using a mishimoto. I didn't get a fan with it since the mounting bosses are on the wrong side for a puller. I may try to mount it above the engine though and throw a stock civic fan on there so it mounts up really nicely. When I got it modified for the engine, the owner of the shop was impressed with the quality of the unit compared to some other unit he had seen.
I got mine for 150 shipped, which isn't cheap, but it had no leaks, and its a solid unit.
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you may be able to tap it with a NPT though. I believe the pitch is the same. I would just replace the O-ring if it were mine!
Yes they are the same pitch One is just a straight pipe thread and the other is taper .The problem with rethreading is that the threads farthest in will usually be a bit large already and when tapped deep enough for the taper to seal well you'll find that you will have to go deeper than normal and MAY have to be careful that you don't run out of thread on the plug before it tightens enough to seal. .BTDT. Yep a VITON o-ring sounds better all the time. Hell of a lot easier to.
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or simply weld it up.. thats sounding like my path of least resistance... just removes another thing to go wrong cause if the o-ring is crap, perhaps the plastic bung isnt of top quality as well. Ill pull a hose off to drain mine cause if this thing is positioned over your engine (most are) you dont want to dump your coolant onto it when you remove the bung...
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I wouldn't .You should be able to find an o-ring petcock for it.
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Ill maybe have to turn up some aluminum Straight plugs to sell with O-ring seeing that there is so much intrest.
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There ya go!
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I still need to buy one. What sellers did you guys buy from? I want the complete unit with fan. I see many of them and many prices. just want to buy from someone who had had good experience with.
Bug where did you get yours from? (seller)?
Bug and I got the same radiator . It didn't come with a fan. The ebay sale has ended, but I'm sure the seller has a new listing. Here's the link for the expired sale. Oh, by the way, Bug's been busy packing up for the move.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150326096797&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3AEOIBSAA%3AUS%3A11&viewitem= (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150326096797&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3AEOIBSAA%3AUS%3A11&viewitem=)
I should add that one of the two came with quite a few bent fins. The other had a few bent fins.
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I like the petcck idea myself, because mine is over the rear diff, With the petcock i can put a hose on the petcock to drain it
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my rad is pipe thread with that same chessy plastic plug... I bought mine off ebay, the fan combo comes with a sub generic fan, better to spend your money on a good fan IMO...
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If it's that same cheesy plug it's not taper pipe thread. It would be straight pipe thread.O-ring fittings are not taper thread.
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well i screwed a brass pipe thread bung into it and it had plenty of resistance going in...I am putting my electric fan switch in that hole, Ill drain the system from the engine since its so high above...
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Of course it threaded in.It's the same pitch. Of course it had resistance. The thread on the plug is smaller and gets bigger. Just cause you CAN do something doesn't make it right.You are asking for trouble by doing what you did.
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At least run a tapered NPT tap into it. It may end up deep in the bung but it should seal by running a tap in a bit. I guess it depends on the major and minor diameters of the straight threads. There was a little discussion about the tap idea earlier.
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When i brought my first one it had the brass fitting, and when i brought my second one it had the plastic one, you can buy the brass fittings off the shelf from your local shop, dont know what they call them over there, but theres a place here called purple pig that deals with everything like that.
Artie, i like your idea. weld it up! it takes days to drain the fluid from it anyway.
KISS!
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taper!!! taper got introduced as what seemed a misreading of "thread tape" :m
If you run a tapered tap through it, how's that gonna work?
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not through, just into enough to cut a taper then back it out
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taper!!! taper got introduced as what seemed a misreading of "thread tape" :m
If you run a tapered tap through it, how's that gonna work?
Ummm,like ANY pipe thread does?