Having trouble draining, flushing, and refilling coolant.

[Ruh]

I went to flush my coolant out because the resovior looks like its filled with nothing but muddy water. Being how new I am to doing my own work on my car I am still learning much of the basics. I do a lot of reading before I start anything, however everything I have read so far does not seem to address my current issue.

Where the hell is my radiator plug! How do I open it...how do I find it...what does it look like!

Very frustrating to go and drain your system but being unable to find the drain. Arg!

Anyways, I have a '95 3.1L V6 Grand Am. I have "Haynes Repair Manuel" and I have read through it extensively. As well as reading through various sites on the net about draining the system. I have also looked on advanceautoparts.com's and autozone.com's do it your self sections. They all discuss how to flush the system but do none can tell me the location of my drain plug. All of these sources greatly helped me when I went to replace my hub and bearing assembly and had little problem. Only issue that came up was carelessness of my own that resulted in electronical error of the ABS monitor. But the process was thorough and helped me get the job done.

Anyhelp would be GREATLY appreciated. I like the idea of spending around $20 to do what the mechanics would probably charge me 200 for.

[xeroinfinity]

there should be one under the radiator, a plastic wing-nut or sone use a socket extension, a square-hole. good luck getting it out, i break them all the time. i just drain it from the radiator hoses, but that still doesnt get all the system drained, the engine block and heatercore will still have coolant/muddy water. hook the hoses back up fill with water and run the car to circulate and let cool down,drain hose etc. this will flush most the crud out. you can also use a cleaner,"radiator flush" which will clean the crud out better. just have to drain refill the system 4-5 time to get the Cleaner out. There are several brands at your local Auto parts store. Hope the help u out man \,,/

[Ruh]

Originally Posted by xeroinfinity

there should be one under the radiator, a plastic wing-nut or sone use a socket extension, a square-hole. good luck getting it out, i break them all the time. i just drain it from the radiator hoses, but that still doesnt get all the system drained, the engine block and heatercore will still have coolant/muddy water. hook the hoses back up fill with water and run the car to circulate and let cool down,drain hose etc. this will flush most the crud out. you can also use a cleaner,"radiator flush" which will clean the crud out better. just have to drain refill the system 4-5 time to get the Cleaner out. There are several brands at your local Auto parts store. Hope the help u out man \,,/

What about if I use a backflush kit after draining just from the hose, instead of circulating water through the system a few times. I also do plan on using a cleaner. I had a friend give me a tip on how to reach the plug and I am going to look into that now. Something about moving a plastic bar of some sort that is right below the radiator. His car isnt the same but I figure its worth looking into to make sure I get the job done thoroughly.

[xeroinfinity]

i dnt know about a backflush kit. either way if you use a cleaner it needs flushed very well 3-4 times to remove the acidic cleaner, could shorten life of water pump and thermostat and eat through the heater core. The plug is on the driverside of the radiator, underneeth.

[Ruh]

Thanks, thats what I was thinking. I just sent you a PM with pictures and a question to confirm before I do anything. I am pretty sure I found the plug but I want to make sure before I go unplugging stuff.