Thread: Quick! Radiator Drain Plug

Where is it and how do you go about removing it. Also I took the 3 bolts holding the splash shield down and still won't come off. What do I do?

X2 on dont touch it. Disconnect your lower radiator hose at the rad. You'll end up breaking the radiator before you get the drain open.

Originally Posted by HighOctaneRacing

Interesting, I had no issues lol

Me either


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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 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.

Yeah. Just a cramp trying to open with a thumb, finger and a bent arm. I even have spare ones from who knows where but I found some.

how to flush coolant.

remove the t stat, put the t stat housing back on, take the upper hose off the radiator, then push it down to the ground to a bucket or let it fly.

get your garden hose out, put it in the rad turn it on, then fire up the car, let it run till clear water pumps out the top hose.

then turn the hose off, run the car till no more water comes out the upper hose. then turn it off.

put your t stat back in, with new gasket, the upper hose back on.



now take 1 gallon of full strength green antifreeze, not the 50/50 crap. ( parts store cheap green is fine to use) dump the whole gallon in the radiator, fire up the car, fill the rad with hose water till its full. top as needed till its ready to be bled of air. it will burp and take coolant as the water in the block warms up the t stat opens up for a few seconds till cold coolant hits it and it shuts again.

now to bleed the air out, let it idle rad cap off till the fans turn on, (when the fans are on the temp is over 195 deg, the t stat is wide open) then open the bleeder screw on top the t stat housing a few turns till a steady stream of coolant comes out the hole, shut the screw, top off the rad. cap it.

done.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

how to flush coolant.

remove the t stat, put the t stat housing back on, take the upper hose off the radiator, then push it down to the ground to a bucket or let it fly.

get your garden hose out, put it in the rad turn it on, then fire up the car, let it run till clear water pumps out the top hose.

then turn the hose off, run the car till no more water comes out the upper hose. then turn it off.

put your t stat back in, with new gasket, the upper hose back on.


now take 1 gallon of full strength green antifreeze, not the 50/50 crap. ( parts store cheap green is fine to use) dump the whole gallon in the radiator, fire up the car, fill the rad with hose water till its full. top as needed till its ready to be bled of air. it will burp and take coolant as the water in the block warms up the t stat opens up for a few seconds till cold coolant hits it and it shuts again.

now to bleed the air out, let it idle rad cap off till the fans turn on, (when the fans are on the temp is over 195 deg, the t stat is wide open) then open the bleeder screw on top the t stat housing a few turns till a steady stream of coolant comes out the hole, shut the screw, top off the rad. cap it.

done.

I took the upper hose off, but it didn't come out from there. That's what got me. The upper hose returns coolant from the block so therefore removing it would do nothing. It all came out from the thermostat hole. Stuff was dripping on the headers and burning and getting all over the ground. Had I took the lower hose off, I would've had success, but I got frustrated and said "I'm done!" I won't mind a shop flushing it cause I have all the parts, all they need to do is flush it.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

how to flush coolant.

remove the t stat, put the t stat housing back on, take the upper hose off the radiator, then push it down to the ground to a bucket or let it fly.

get your garden hose out, put it in the rad turn it on, then fire up the car, let it run till clear water pumps out the top hose.

then turn the hose off, run the car till no more water comes out the upper hose. then turn it off.

put your t stat back in, with new gasket, the upper hose back on.



now take 1 gallon of full strength green antifreeze, not the 50/50 crap. ( parts store cheap green is fine to use) dump the whole gallon in the radiator, fire up the car, fill the rad with hose water till its full. top as needed till its ready to be bled of air. it will burp and take coolant as the water in the block warms up the t stat opens up for a few seconds till cold coolant hits it and it shuts again.

now to bleed the air out, let it idle rad cap off till the fans turn on, (when the fans are on the temp is over 195 deg, the t stat is wide open) then open the bleeder screw on top the t stat housing a few turns till a steady stream of coolant comes out the hole, shut the screw, top off the rad. cap it.

done.

Originally Posted by Pontiac Racer

I took the upper hose off, but it didn't come out from there. That's what got me. The upper hose returns coolant from the block so therefore removing it would do nothing. It all came out from the thermostat hole. Stuff was dripping on the headers and burning and getting all over the ground. Had I took the lower hose off, I would've had success, but I got frustrated and said "I'm done!" I won't mind a shop flushing it cause I have all the parts, all they need to do is flush it.

i bolded what your missing.

Ohhhhhhh from the radiator. Didn't fully comprehend it. Makes more sense now. Sorry 'bout that. Taking the hose clamp off the radiator seemed tricky cause it was pretty well hidden under everything.

Oh and I did remove the thermostat.

Now this is quality entertainment!

Lesson learned. I had in my mind the entire time from the thermostat side. After a failed attempt and like 3 hours to think about it, I found out that it wouldn't work. Stupid me!

you can leave the t stat in, nothing will come out till its 195 degrees, then it will puke some out and stop, and then repeat. aka a waste of time.

This is why I don't do my own repairs. Because I always mess something up and don't realize until after what my mistake was. I want to go into this profession, but don't have any useful skills yet lol.