Radiator drain plug leaking
 

My drain plug bolt is leaking (KLE500). What should I do? Try some tread locking glue? Get a new bolt? I was hoping to use the bike next Tuesday for a 200 mile trip so if I order parts they probably won't get here on time.

Cheers.

It won't be the bolt.. There will be a crush washer (copper or aluminium). That probably just needs replacing.

If you can't get hold of one (any bikeshop will have them), you can soften the old one with a blow torch and tighen it while its still warm.

Don't use thread lock ! It's too wet for it in there.

Thanks Ted.

Would silicone work? Short term?

Maybe. The other thing you can try is PTFE tape - the stuff plumbers use on domestic radiator joints.

If you can't find a blowtorch, then dropping the washer in a pan of boiling water for a few miinutes will also help soften it.

Maybe as an emergency repair. Not the best idea to have bits of gunge in your cooling system though. Go sparingly and only use it at near the head of the bolt.

PTFE tape as dave suggests would also work as would the boiling water technique. Pretty much any tool, bike, chandler shop should have soft washers !!

If it isn't the threads that are the problem you could probably make a temporary washer from the side of a cereal packet. Just cut a washer shape, put it over the bolt and screw it in (carefully so as not to tear the card). It'll work if the sealing surface is flat but not if it's recessed.

+1 on the PTFE tape.

if its copper heat it over the kitchen hob till red hot and drop it in cold water. that'll soften it. if its ally then polish the two faces on a flat surface. also check the faces on the rad and the bolt, its unusual to get a leak there you may have had a dink from a stone?

Thanks a million for all the suggestions.