Radiator Drain Plug

[MiniTartan]

I had an over heating issue yesterday, so I decided to drain and flush the radiator.
All was well until I went to reinstall the drain plug/sensor. The black sealing ring got pushed into the radiator. I was able to fish it back out, but I noticed it read "DO NOT RE-INSTALL" on it.

Do I need to get a new plug/sensor and ring?

[Jerry]

Wouldn't make sense to have to replace the sensor, but the sealing ring might fall under the basic rule of not re-using an o-ring. I'm not familiar with your setup, but if your not going to drive the car for a while, order one. Otherwise, some hi temp RTV that can withstand high temp and pressure might do the trick. If you had an overheating issue, particularly yesterday, I would do more investigation of the cooling system, including hoses, cap, t-stat and whether the fan is installed in the correct direction. The fan should be installed so that the air is being pushed from the engine compartment, through the radiator and exiting the LH side of the car. Good luck.

[Mark]

Hi Mark,
I would recomend replacement, just so your time spent won't be duplicated later. For a quick and knowledgeable view of your car, contact TIMC, and great "japanese spec spi" powertrain expert. You can probably send him a pm directly through this web site. He is on the east side, and I think you are too.
Best of luck, and,
Best regards,
MSH

[timc]

More likely the switch has failed, and its not unheard of either. And Rover says to replace the seal every time when removing it. And this is a good idea as the rubber seal gets compressed and doesn't seal well the second time around. The sensor and gasket as one can be purchased from minispares for about 10quid ($16.50usd) plus shipping. The retaining plastic ring must be in good shape too, make sure its not cracked. I can run a diagnostic ecu read tool on the car and find out for sure. It could be either the relay that controls the aux fan but most likely the sensor switch... which is what you took out.

[MiniTartan]

Sounds like I need to go ahead and replace the whole switch set-up.

I'll check with Minispares unless anyone knows of a more local source.

[timc]

when the car gets up to temp, does the aux fan come on? that would be the first thing to check...if not, the switch is dead...sometimes the switch dies in the on position too and the aux fan stays on all the time, but i'm sure this isnt' the case with your car.