Help draining the coolant please

[Johnny H 0]

Hi all.

Could someone help me to tell me the best way to drain the coolant out please.

I want to do it this morning and put new stuff in.

Thanks Johnny

[VWVW 1]

I did mine by emptying from the bottom radiator hose. The clamp holding the hose will be difficult to take off. I used a self locking mole grip to loosen and take off. Be careful not to damage the hose in the process. When filling new coolant I filled from the radiator top elbow first(Have to be careful here also as to not to crack the radiator elbow when undoing the bolts) then the coolant headed tank. Pour the coolant back very very slowly as not to get too much air in the system.

Edited November 4, 2012 by VWVW

[nrc 0]

Draining from the radiator's bottom hose won't completely empty all of the coolant so you might want to flush the system using a hose on fairly low pressure directed into the radiator's top hose first.

 

The thermostat should be closed at this point so filling/flushing will be fairly slow going.

[Harrier 1]

There is also a drain plug at underside of crack pipe,underneath inlet manifold

[fendervg 33]

Drain plug on crack pipe is the easiest - take the reservoir cap off and undo the drain - might be an idea to buy a spare drain plug in case the old one gets damaged.

[Stonejag 10]

Be aware that since it's so high up against the front of the engine, there's basically no way to drain it from the petcock on the crack pipe without getting coolant all down your arm! It doesn't help that the hole is so tiny so you get a fan-spray effect all over your front cross-member.

 

The official guidance is to slightly twist the crack pipe to direct the flow, but that's a terrible idea as it disturbs the seal at both ends and/or cracks the plastic ;) When I swapped to a metal crack pipe I found the drain bung used a 1/8 NPT thread so I swapped it for a small brass valve designed for domestic gas installations - add a short pipe with a threaded end and you can drain coolant to wherever you like just by putting the end of the pipe in a bucket and opening the valve :) The first time you have to drain the coolant after it's been running you'll realise why this is such a good idea...!

 

Stone

[MarkFoster 0]

When I swapped to a metal crack pipe I found the drain bung used a 1/8 NPT thread so I swapped it for a small brass valve designed for domestic gas installations.

 

Top idea sir, don't suppose you have any pics of how you did this...?

 

Mark

[Critical_Mass 10]

If you loosen the plug from underneath, you'll be able to reach down from above and undo it the rest of the way. Bit fiddly but possible and saves getting coolant all down your arm.