[rgbradbury]

Ok, so I was reinstalling the nylon radiator drain plug in my 81 cx500c and like an animal I snapped it off. Rather than take the 2 seconds it would have to search the forum for a good solution, I decided to continue with my sasquatchery and drill out the remainder of the plastic plug. Of course this was a disaster and I ended up pushing the remains up into the radiator.

So...then I decide to check the forum. I know I can get replacements from the local auto parts store (12mm x 1.25) but I'm concerned about the remains of the old plug still being in there. Will they block the radiator from working properly? Should I just replace the whole thing? Could I flush the radiator thoroughly to remove any small fragments and then just leave the larger chunk in there?

Any thoughts, or spare radiators, would be appreciated.

Rich

 

[hotsauce]

I would not leave any thing in the rad. But thats me. Try and flush it from the filler port on top with garden hose and all hoses off and drain plug open. If you still think there is stuff inside take rad off bike and try again at difrent angles with garden hose

 

[spacetiger]

+1

The little bits can get into the engine and create bigger problems. I would suggest you remove the radiator and do what hotsauce recommends. You don't want to think about this when you look down at the temp gauge and see its hot one day...

Jerry

 

[murrayf]

the stub of the drain will be ok in there i have seen many many of them in there you are not alone

flush water thru the rad to flush out and small parts and then forget about it

the stub is to big to plug any of the cores and it is high temp nylon so it wont deteriorate

the only time you will know is if the rad is off the bike you will hear it rattle any attempts to remove it will go bad unless you want to unsolder the tank and risk

being able to reseal it just go riding you will forget about it in a 100 miles it cant go anywhere

 

[rgbradbury]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll flush the crap out of it and put in a new plug. I'll be watching that temp gauge like a hawk for a few week though I'm sure!