TD5 Fuel Filter Drain Plug Failure

[greg-g]

Discovery 2 TD5 2004
Today I pulled into a rather remote parking lot to find very large trail of diesel behind me.
Inspection showed the water drain plug had broken and fuel was pouring out.

After a bit of head scratching, I removed the filter, extracted the remaining piece of the drain plug and screwed a wood dowel into the hole.
This slowed the leak down enough to allow me to sprint home.
I lost about 30 litres in about 2 km looking at the diesel trail on the way back.

Obviously someone had over tightened the drain plug at some previous service.

Has anyone had any experience with this problem, and is it possible to get a better drain plug.

This model doesn’t have the water sensor.

Thanks

Greg.

[isuzurover]

Discovery 2 TD5 2004
Today I pulled into a rather remote parking lot to find very large trail of diesel behind me.
Inspection showed the water drain plug had broken and fuel was pouring out.

After a bit of head scratching, I removed the filter, extracted the remaining piece of the drain plug and screwed a wood dowel into the hole.
This slowed the leak down enough to allow me to sprint home.
I lost about 30 litres in about 2 km looking at the diesel trail on the way back.

Obviously someone had over tightened the drain plug at some previous service.

Has anyone had any experience with this problem, and is it possible to get a better drain plug.

This model doesn’t have the water sensor.

Thanks

Greg.

Can the drain plug be replaced with a stainless bolt? That is what a few of us have done on the older CAV style filters.

[dmdigital]

Can't recall if it's an M6 or M8 bolt but one of those, not to long with a gasket will seal it until you decide to spend $80 on a new water sensor (assuming yours has the sensor and not simply a drain plug)

[Slunnie]

Yep. I've smashed the sensor out before. I now keep a short M10x1.5 bolt in the ashtray for next time.

[Tombie]

Yep. I've smashed the sensor out before. I now keep a short M10x1.5 bolt in the ashtray for next time.

And an M10 Bonded Washer wont go astray either :D

[dmdigital]

M6 ... M8 ... M10:wacko: :confused:

I knew it was one of them metric sizes I used! I should have check in the car as I now keep a bolt for that purpose.

[greg-g]

Many thanks for your comments
M10 is the correct thread. I still have to find a washer.
That water drain valve is a really poor design. Over tighten, and it will fail sometime and drain the tank in probably about 10 minutes. I was really lucky that it failed about 2 minutes short of our destination

Greg

[LandyAndy]

Thanks Greg
I will be servicing mine soon.Will look at changing over to a stainless bolt.What lenght is needed???
Its always concerned me how open to damage the filter is on the D2 TD5.
Andrew

[barney]

same thing happened to my wife's disco, fixed it on the spot with the pin from the D shackel on her trailer, and i later made up a bolt for her to carry when it happens next time.

[greg-g]

As Slunnie suggested a M10 x 15mm should be a good fit. The threaded section of the original drain plug is about 14mm long.
I don't know what washer to use as the filter canister female thread is only about 5mm deep, and I'm a bit concerned about the bolt vibrating loose.
Any thoughts?

Thanks

Greg

[barney]

try some teflon tape

[jwb]

And an M10 Bonded Washer wont go astray either :D

What's a bonded washer??

[LandyAndy]

JWB
I was about to ask the same:cool::cool::cool::cool:
At a guess its a steel washer with a seal fitted.BUT IT IS A GUESS!!!!
Andrew

[Tombie]

Also colloquially known as 'Dowty Seals' which is a brand name..

http://www.tulip.com.au/tulip/HOME/%7EImages/dowty_seals.jpg

The most common are:-
They are Steel / SS / Alloy washers depending on spec..
With a Rubber seal bonded internally usually NBR, but can be Flourolastomers etc, depending on use...

For an M10 they are around $0.80 each....

http://www.fisherlamco.com.au/products/images/others/dowty_seals.jpg

[jwb]

thanks, Mike. Learnt something new again. I'll go and get the bolt and washer and keep it in the glovebox!

[greg-g]

Will try again, my last post got lost.

I've replaced the original plastic drain plug with a M10 16mm stainless steel bolt That was the easy part. I also drilled a drain hole into the bolt with an exit hole just above the washer.

The replacement washer was a problem. The bottom of the fuel filter canister isn't totally flat, there is a recess around the thread where the rubber seal in a "Dowty Seal" would sit, making this unsuitable.
The only other washers I could find in numerous shops around town were fibre, or nylon. These are both thin and hard, and I don't think would be suitable.
I eventually obtained a small piece of 1.6mm rubber sheeting (nitrile ?), and punched a 10mm hole to make a washer. This would appear to be ideal.

I've since refill the diesel, It would appear that I lost about 20 litres in the 1 - 2 Km travelled before the leak was found.

I was wondering about starting another thread where a list of failure prone items such as this drain plug that everyone really should be replacing could be made. I have also been told there is another problem plug in the cooling system, but I'm not sure which one. The list really should be sticky, or in its own forum, otherwise it would quickly become lost.

Many thanks for your help and comments.

Greg

[Redback]

Thanks Greg
I will be servicing mine soon.Will look at changing over to a stainless bolt.What lenght is needed???
Its always concerned me how open to damage the filter is on the D2 TD5.
Andrew

Don't forget Andy our model has the water sensor on the filter, unlike the later D2a which only has a drain bolt.

Baz.

[wes81]

I waterproofed the water sensor and zip tied it to chassis. I then found out that the TDI filter fits the td5. I have used it for 10 months and have not run into any problems. I also cary a spare plug in my tool kit for the filter. I would be interested to know if this can cause any problems to my td5 longterm.

[Blknight.aus]

id be using a 9mm ID 2mm oring. should be just about perfect.

[Piddler]

HI All,
to protect mine I got a large piece of clear nylon hose and split it.
Then put it over the top and retained it with a large hose clamp. It hangs down past the filter but protects it and the drain from flying stones etc.

Cheers