Refilling coolant.

[Cold_Silence]

Hey guys, i have a quick question, how exactly do you drain the old coolant out so i can put fresh stuff in, mines a 96 and dont know if my dad has refilled it before so i want to change it, im also hoping it will help my overheating problem. Could it be done at home simply? Thanks. And do i use that dexcool antifreeze stuff? thanks

[colinlesser]

99% of the time just changing coolant has no affect you will need to check a few things but try changing it first, just look for a drain plug and there ya go, next if it doesnt stop see if you fan is working then come back

[Cold_Silence]

As i said in another post, im not sure if the fans working, but people say the fans not supposed to kick on until its at least 3/4 hot anyways, and it usually doesent get much past there. I dont know when the last flush n refill is so im thinking that may have somehting to do with it. Also the t-stat. I thought there was more to it than draining it and refilling, where is that "petcock" locateD? Thanks

[cdru]

Originally Posted by Cold_Silence

I thought there was more to it than draining it and refilling, where is that "petcock" locateD? Thanks

You can also do a mechanical or chemical flush. But usually a flush/refill job won't do much for the cooling capability. If the coolant in the overflow tank looks fairly clear and tests fine, I'd leave it.

But if you still want to drain it, the drain plug on my 97 is located on the front of the radiator on the driver's side. I have to push up a little on teh front fender but otherwise is fairly easy to get at.

[JimofWare]

I would also look into the T-stat. I would say this cures 60% of overheating problems...

[colinlesser]

or you can pour a shot glass of coolant and drink it then you wont have a problem