Thread: Quick! Radiator Drain Plug

You can add me to the list of people that have never had an issue removing the drain plug from the rad.

I used it and will continue to use it.. Just don't go off and tighten it to much. It's tight enough where it won't leak but I can still take 2 fingers and bust it loose easily.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think you just lack a good mental picture of the entire cooling system in your head. You'll get there.

I have changed a LOT of radiators in wrecks. My GT's drain plug was stuck / broke when I got it. They don't have to be very tight at all but if you try one for the first time and it doesn't want to budge... as said before you'll break the radiator so back away if two fingers won't do it. Speaking of the plastic type, of course. I agree on pulling the lower hose instead if it won't come loose. Metal petcocks unscrew from the tank, but you won't find that on a FWD GP.

ive broken about every plastic rad plug i ever touched. from the thumb screw type to the type that take a 3/8's extension.

why i dont bother any more.

Well I wish I could give it a second attempt, but won't have time and fear of messing something up AGAIN. It's my luck. Nothing can ever go right for me. It was especially hard to do considering I had no drain pan that would fit under the car because I didn't have access to a jack and stands at the time. Garbage can lids were the winners although not much was caught so wasn't too big of a deal. Had to scrub the driveway to avoid staining it (my dad is a clean freak). It took me a solid 3 hours to accomplish: removing the thermostat, take 3 bolts off a splash shield, and drain like 1/2 gallon of coolant. That should say a lot right there.

There ARE some folks who trip out pretty hard if anything leaks anything on their anything. They will be out there sniffing your A/C water puddle after you leave, sticking their finger in it making a face lol. Heck I'm curious where you was gonna dump coolant. I have tried hard to find the local and legal answer to how an individual is supposed to dispose of coolant. If you push the people who should know, you end up being told to flush it down the toilet. My answer is just to run old nasty coolant until somebody runs into me and pukes it onto the street ha ha.

i put it in jugs and drop it off with my used oil at autozone. i dont kive a flying fvck what they do with it.

before that i took it my towns dpw. they took everything if you dropped it off.

I remove the plastic petcocks from radiators at work all the time, over the past year and a half I've probably removed 30 and haven't broken one. On my gp, it seemed unusually hard to remove due to the location, and that it's an aftermarket radiator with a different style, so I just pulled the lower hose for mine. Some radiators don't have them at all, which the lower hose is the only option. I worked on a Mazda minivan recently which had no petcock.

Btw the lower hose to the radiator is a somewhat tough one to do, at least mine was being the clamp tabs were pointing to the right.

If some of the local guys close to you are willing to help you out you need to take them up on it. You remind me of myself when I first started to do my own maintenance/mods. I was raised by a single mother and had no mechanical knowledge when I started. Every thing took forever. I was lucky enough to meet some local LS1 guys that took me under their wings and they helped me out.

Also YouTube has tons of vids on maintenance just start watching some vids to get an idea of how things work. Keep at it you'll get it.

Honestly if you think of it, deep, mechanical engine work is easier to do. For example, a lower intake manifold repair. To remove it is easy, 6 bolts. That's not hard, but the stupid little things on top are what get you. Fuel rail, vacuum lines, spark plug wires, alternator, etc. Do you see where I'm coming from? That's mostly where you spend your time doing the job, not even on the part your preparing. This has nothing to do with my radiator situation, I was just pointing it out lol. Probably didn't make much sense.

I hear ya just keep at it. My buddy who has been in the 3800 scene for some time now came over last fall to yank my engine for me. I had to watch my newborn son at the time. He had it pulled in just over and hour. I bet some of the guys on this board could do it blindfolded :-)

Well all the excess coolant is burning off now, so when I get home from a short drive, my whole engine is smoking lol. I'm hoping it's not leaking, but there were too large puddles that are nearly gone so hopefully it won't smoke as bad now.

hose your engine down.

Good idea! I guess I didn't try that to avoid getting oil and coolant on the ground. And if it keeps smoking, I better find that leak or else I'll be paying for a new motor...

Not sure if it protects anything but when I hose my engine down I always cover the alternator. Figure you never want water touching it.

I've never had a problem with a radiator drain plug either....seems to me that removing the lower radiator hose would be more trouble. I always tend to remove them while the radiator is still hot (not scalding hot, but more than warm) and they always turn right out. Maybe it's tougher to remove them with a cold radiator?

Originally Posted by buickman104

Not sure if it protects anything but when I hose my engine down I always cover the alternator. Figure you never want water touching it.

Oil is more damaging to an alt than water. The alt gets wet all the time in daily driving.