05 Suburban draining radiator

[93sub]

I want to change out the coolant on my 05 Suburban. Looking at the radiator, is there a petcock that can be opened to drain it? I'm missing the obvious if there is. I see what looks like a nipple on the bottom of the drivers side, but don't see a way to open it.

Thanks.

[93sub]

Looking more at the radiator there is no petcock to open on the side of the radiator, but I see what look like a drain port at the bottom of the radiator with what I call a round collar around it. Does this turn to open the drain?

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by 93sub

Looking more at the radiator there is no petcock to open on the side of the radiator, but I see what look like a drain port at the bottom of the radiator with what I call a round collar around it. Does this turn to open the drain?

on the edge of the driverside is the drain and valve to rotate to open its all black plastic. also you should have a hose mounted there to connect to the drain hole so the fluid flows out and does not get on the vehicle.


its important to know that this vehicle if the 5.3L has a coolant capacity of 4.5gallons. draining the radiator will remove 2 gallons. also you must blow out the heater core 1/2 gallon. this is were the gunk gets trapped.

dexcool must be used with distilled water. tap water is loaded with dirt and metals, corrosives.


dexcool should be replaced every 3-4 yrs. 5yrs is too long.replace the thermostat and try to suck out as much coolant as you can as it is almost impossibleto drain the engine.


when filling,,,, fill the system as much as you can .using the radiator hose top removed from radiator to get the most into it. then start engine and with the coolant tank open continue to fill the system ....rev engine a few times until engine is at operating temp fill to hot line.


this is the air purging proceedure , fill until at operating temp with the cap off and rev engine.

look for black goop . if you have this , then someone installed / topped off with some other coolant.

IF IS SAYS GM APPROVED DEXCOOL ITS DEXCOOL ! IF NOT ITS NOT TO BE USED ......................

[93sub]

I believe what you are saying is the drain/valve is indeed on the bottom of the radiator and not on the side or face of the radiator facing the motor.

My plan was to drain and fill with distilled water until draining clear with the thermostat out then drain again and add straight dex-cool until obtaining proper mix.

Thanks j cAT

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by 93sub

I believe what you are saying is the drain/valve is indeed on the bottom of the radiator and not on the side or face of the radiator facing the motor.

My plan was to drain and fill with distilled water until draining clear with the thermostat out then drain again and add straight dex-cool until obtaining proper mix.

Thanks j cAT

the drain is at the lowest portion, of the driverside , of the radiator in the engine compartment. the hose is fastened to the drain hole outlet , this is the hose used to drain the radiator with out getting on any metal/body.

disconnect hose from drain hole , and position into your bucket. then reconnect and rotate , the attached gate valve all black plastic ...may need some wd-40 on this valve it is tight ,,,,go easy on it .

[93sub]

I found the drain nipple, its right above the frame mount by the way it looks. My vechicle doesn't have a drain hose so it looks like I will need to come up with something. Around the nipple is a black collar that I can turn. Should this collar turn CWor CCW to get the coolant flowing and a guess on how many turns. I'm a little timid on this for some reason.

Thanks for the patience.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by 93sub

I found the drain nipple, its right above the frame mount by the way it looks. My vechicle doesn't have a drain hose so it looks like I will need to come up with something. Around the nipple is a black collar that I can turn. Should this collar turn CWor CCW to get the coolant flowing and a guess on how many turns. I'm a little timid on this for some reason.

Thanks for the patience.

close is usually CW. try CCW first . spray some lube if stiff.

[93sub]

The radiator might have won on this one. The collar that I thought was the drain valve will turn but I can't get any coolant to drain. I rotated it in both directions and it will neither tighten or let fluid out, and I rotated it enough times that something should have happened. The collar is white on the bottom of the radiator looking up. Where any of these drains a type that had to be pushed up and rotated at the same time? Even that didn't seem to work, but I'm willing to try one more time.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by 93sub

The radiator might have won on this one. The collar that I thought was the drain valve will turn but I can't get any coolant to drain. I rotated it in both directions and it will neither tighten or let fluid out, and I rotated it enough times that something should have happened. The collar is white on the bottom of the radiator looking up. Where any of these drains a type that had to be pushed up and rotated at the same time? Even that didn't seem to work, but I'm willing to try one more time.

take a picture of this area .post here. turn the valve ccw then stick a small wire in the drain hole.

if this does not work get a 5 gallon bucket and remove the lower radiator hose

when you rotate this valve pull on it

[93sub]

From what I can find, somtime in the last few years a drain is no longer installed on these radiators. I plan on disconnecting lower radiator hose.

[93sub]

Here is a picture of what I made out of an old radiator hose to drain the radiator between flushing

The second picture is what I thought was the drain. I turned this is both directions with no avail to get liquid to flow.

I ended up using 23 gallons of distilled water before I was satisfied that I had clear water in the system. I was concerned about draining water/coolant that was 145 degrees and adding water at room temp so I heated the distilled water before refilling. Long process

I don't know if I will do this again. Between the time spent and the mess to clean up when I was done I second guess if it was worth it. I might have saved $75.

I used GM Dex-Cool as the price was within $2 a gallon of any other. What I drained out was a pink/red color and what the dealer sold me is orange. Hope they just changed the color from '05.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by 93sub

Here is a picture of what I made out of an old radiator hose to drain the radiator between flushing

The second picture is what I thought was the drain. I turned this is both directions with no avail to get liquid to flow.

I ended up using 23 gallons of distilled water before I was satisfied that I had clear water in the system. I was concerned about draining water/coolant that was 145 degrees and adding water at room temp so I heated the distilled water before refilling. Long process

I don't know if I will do this again. Between the time spent and the mess to clean up when I was done I second guess if it was worth it. I might have saved $75.

I used GM Dex-Cool as the price was within $2 a gallon of any other. What I drained out was a pink/red color and what the dealer sold me is orange. Hope they just changed the color from '05.

the color is looking red on removal of the old coolant because of the gray metal particles giving it that darker tint.

the new is an orange red color, this is just dye so that it is, identified as dexcool.

if the old fluid was clean I would have not used all that distilled water . just drain out/ suck out all you can, flush the heater core with air / water hose. then refill with the proper mix.

that was a lot of work , but you did clean it all out. it would be easier if , those engine drain plugs were more functional.