Technical 128 cooling system
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Technical 128 cooling system
Long time since I worked on one, generally we would pull off a bottom hose or sometimes radiators had an accessible plug to drain.
Long time since I worked on one also, but I seem to recall there were 2 types, one where the thermostat could be changed on it's own (i.e. by removing the thermostat top cover) and a later one where the thermostat was part of a housing that had to be changed as a unit.
As regards cooling system drain plugs on old vehicles, the radiator one is probably best left undisturbed as it's possibly seized and attempts to loosen it may result in damage to it or the radiator, whereas, the drain plug in the cylinder block may also be seized and even loosening it without causing damage may result in nothing coming out as rusty sediment tends to build up behind it (the cure is to remove it and poke in the threaded hole to clear it).
But as 'bugsymike has suggested, it's probably simplest to just disconnect the bottom hose at the radiator.
Before you disturb the cooling system, it might be a good idea, if you haven't already done so, to visually/physically check all the hoses including the heater hoses and the heater tap (valve) in case you need to order any other parts.
As regards cooling system drain plugs on old vehicles, the radiator one is probably best left undisturbed as it's possibly seized and attempts to loosen it may result in damage to it or the radiator, whereas, the drain plug in the cylinder block may also be seized and even loosening it without causing damage may result in nothing coming out as rusty sediment tends to build up behind it (the cure is to remove it and poke in the threaded hole to clear it).
But as 'bugsymike has suggested, it's probably simplest to just disconnect the bottom hose at the radiator.
Before you disturb the cooling system, it might be a good idea, if you haven't already done so, to visually/physically check all the hoses including the heater hoses and the heater tap (valve) in case you need to order any other parts.
Good points from @124BC1 about the radiator plug (nothing worse than the sick feeling of the plug ripping out of a flimsy brass bottom tank, although it can be resoldered in, unlike modern plastic radiators
)Also the other point about rust sediment build up in bottom of engine block, many times in past we had to poke the hole clear, but the use of modern good anti corrosion antifreeze helps.
I was going to suggest flushing the system , but on older vehicles that can cause problems too.
