Making Bleedin' easier.

Abott10 · 30th December 2018, 21:39

If you, like me do NOT relish bleeding some of our Rover engines' cooling systems. This may be of interest.

That very difficult to access Bleed Bolt in the Coolant Pipe which runs above the Bell Housing? That is the problem. Not easy to remove and even more difficult to replace after bleeding.

How about modifying a Bleed Bolt or its location so that the air can be released without removing the bolt completely. First idea was to drill and tap the original spec 8mm but that would not be the answer. Then decided a slot cut down the 8mm Bolts threaded end say halfway down the threads would provided and answer. Air/Coolant could be bled by only undoing the bolt a little more than halfway. So the images below show how I modified the Bolt using a Junior Hacksaw and Nut as a depth gauge and to protect the threads. I used some emery tape to clean up the rougher edges of the cut and threads after cutting the slot.

Fitted one of these to my daily driver MG ZT-T 1.8T today and it works a treat. Will do a few more for the rest of the K-Series in the family. We have a lot...

30th December 2018, 21:39	#1
Abott10 * Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 227 Thanks: 1,275 Thanked 1,917 Times in 1,328 Posts	Making Bleedin' easier. If you, like me do NOT relish bleeding some of our Rover engines' cooling systems. This may be of interest. That very difficult to access Bleed Bolt in the Coolant Pipe which runs above the Bell Housing? That is the problem. Not easy to remove and even more difficult to replace after bleeding. How about modifying a Bleed Bolt or its location so that the air can be released without removing the bolt completely. First idea was to drill and tap the original spec 8mm but that would not be the answer. Then decided a slot cut down the 8mm Bolts threaded end say halfway down the threads would provided and answer. Air/Coolant could be bled by only undoing the bolt a little more than halfway. So the images below show how I modified the Bolt using a Junior Hacksaw and Nut as a depth gauge and to protect the threads. I used some emery tape to clean up the rougher edges of the cut and threads after cutting the slot. Fitted one of these to my daily driver MG ZT-T 1.8T today and it works a treat. Will do a few more for the rest of the K-Series in the family. We have a lot...