Do some/all plumbers have tools to solve this problem?

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zzmac

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I need a plumber to fix my car! lol

I broke the head off a bolt on the radiator in my sports car. The bolt is at the bottom of the rad and is used for draining coolant. To make a long story short the 1" threaded part of the bolt rolled into the radiator.

The bottom outlet on the rad (where the rad hose connects) is approx. 8" long then it makes maybe a 6" turn into the rad.

Do plumbers have a flexible tool with a camera that could go in the outlet, see where the bolt end is and then put in a flexible tool that could grab it and take it out?

I tried flushing and vacuuming it out and it didn't work. I'm sure it's sitting in the rad just below where it meets the outlet.
 
pull the radiator, and turn it so that the piece falls out of the hole where the bottom hose connects


that info is billed under fixing cars , you owe me $47.63

If i draw picture of a stick man shaking the radiator, that is another $50.00 you need a picture?
 
Major pain in the ass to get the rad out. Do plumbers have these type of tools?
 
Harbor freight has little cameras and pincher pick up rods that they sell pretty cheap.
 
I wouldn’t bother with the cameras. I’ve used them, and if on the off chance you can make sense of Wtf you’re looking at you’re still going to have no idea where it’s oriented if it’s out of sight. Tie a magnet to a stick and go fishing.
 
Search for inspection camera on Ebay. Lots of items less than $30. I got one and use it mostly to see where pipes and wires are going in wall cavities. Not sure you will be able to find one that can fit in the tiny space inside your radiator though.
DIY work on cars can be a real pain. Pros have the advantage of having "been there done that" knowledge so they don't drop parts down holes nearly so often.
 
Just leave it in there. Water flow in the radiator is upward, and it's too big a part to jam any of the small tubes. If it's a brass bolt (what make/model?) a magnetic grabber wouldn't work anyway. Over time, it may bounce around enough to cause a leak, then you'll have justification to pull (and replace, probably) the radiator.
 
A car radiator generally has what is known as a "Drain Petcock" the part you turn to drain universally turns inward (clockwise) to drain and if you try to remove it by loosening it you will indeed break it off as it is captive at radiator side. The good news is that the entire petcock assembly almost always is screwed into the tank of the radiator and can be removed as a unit and replaced cheaply. Look for a 6 sided nut usually around 13 or 14 mm if metric or 1/2 or 9/16ths if standard thread.
I was one of dem sertifiid master teknisians and can not tell you the number of times I have seen broken petcocks.
 
What is it....4 bolts, two hose clamps....pull it out, turn over, shake like crazy, then once it is out, reinstall?
 
Im sure on older cars it’s that easy. Taking anything apart on newer vehicles sucks.

Just to change the headlight bulb on my car I had to take off my front grill and remove the entire headlight just to access the bulb
:pissed:
 
Had an Toyota Avalon and got an inspection ticket for the 3rd (center) brakelight being out. Part printed led and board was 175 and the labor was 4 hrs which worked out to 875 dollars to have it done in a shop.

Had to pull the rear sidepanels, rear airbags, back seat, and a bunch of other stuff to remove the housing all in my driveway in December lols
 
Had an Toyota Avalon and got an inspection ticket for the 3rd (center) brakelight being out. Part printed led and board was 175 and the labor was 4 hrs which worked out to 875 dollars to have it done in a shop.

Had to pull the rear sidepanels, rear airbags, back seat, and a bunch of other stuff to remove the housing all in my driveway in December lols

Yikes!
 
Had an Toyota Avalon and got an inspection ticket for the 3rd (center) brakelight being out. Part printed led and board was 175 and the labor was 4 hrs which worked out to 875 dollars to have it done in a shop.

Had to pull the rear sidepanels, rear airbags, back seat, and a bunch of other stuff to remove the housing all in my driveway in December lols
Wait until you have to replace a halogen headlight bulb in a Prius. Or change the spark plugs - for them, the first task in the manual is "remove windshield wipers".
 

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