engine block coolant plug

[cyrusyn]

I have 96 Taurus with 3.0 OHV.
I'm trying to change coolant and can't locate the engine block plug.
Can't someone tell me where the engine block coolant plug for this car is located at?

[Huney1]

Don't know about a plug on the radiator or block, but take the bottom radiator hose loose and drain it like that. DO NOT DISCONNECT IT WHEN THE ENGINE IS HOT OR EVEN WARM because you could be seriously burned! Make sure you leave the heater on and best fill it with clean water and do a second flush to make sure all the old coolant is gone. Fill it with plain water then crank the engine and let it idle until the thremostat opens and run the heater five mintues then shut it down and let it cool down so you won't get burned. Drain the plain water then refill with a 50% mix of antifreeze and water. Don't exceed a 50-50 mix because the anti freze doesn't work as well. I use 40 antifreeze 60 water and if it ever gets any colder than that in SC we're in a new ice age anyway. Highly sugggest Prestone or a good green antifreeze. DEFINITLELY NOT the DEX COOL pink stuff.

Catch the old antifreeze in drain pan or whatever but don't dump it on the ground. Antifreeze is a toxic chemical and should be disposed of proprerly, so check with your local waste management and find out where the used antifreeze recycle tank is. Our Mother Earth will thank you.

[cyrusyn]

Thanks for your tip. On the heater control, there is "vent" and also are two icons of a man sitting on air going to his head or his leg. Which do I use when bleeding?

Where can I find the lower hose? Top hose is right there but lower hose is so hard to find.

[Huney1]

The knob you refer to is the one that controls where you want the air to come out, not that one. The one that controls temprature, like with a blue to red line, put it on red for hot so coolant circulates through the heater core.

"Where can I find the lower hose? Top hose is right there but lower hose is so hard to find." Can't tell you exactly but mine is an 03 and yours should be attached to the botom of the radiator like most vehicles. OK, find the water pump and the hose that runs down from it goes to the bottom outlet of the radiator. That would be the easiest and most practical way to drain it, but you may have to get on your back and look up to find the clamp or screw. DO NOT GET ANTIFREEZE IN YOUR EYES OR MOUTH AND MAKE SURE THE ENGINE IS COLD. Safety goggles are seldom worn but when working with ANYTHING that can get in or hit you in the eyes, for goodness sakes wear them safety goggles!

This is more trouble, but take the thermostat out and reconnect the goose neck but don't connect the radiator hose to the goose neck. Put a garden hose in the reservoir tank with enough water running out of the hose to keep the reservoir full and crank it up and the water pump will circulate and push the old coolant out replacing it with fresh water. Make sure the water pump doesn't starve for water, keep the reservoir full. Finally, turn the fresh water hose off and when the last of the water gurgles out of the goose neck shut the engine down. Now put the t'stat back in, reconnect the hose and dump in the new anti freeze, top it off with fresh water and you're good to go. Be sure and let it idle until the t'stat fully opens so it can push any air in the system out, you may have to top it off again with fresh water.

[cyrusyn]

Thanks for your tips!
I just still wish to find the engine plug because the t-stat gooseneck is not the lowest point of the engine block and some water will remain inside the engine block. This could put the 50:50 ratio off.
How come Ford FSM doesn't show things like location of an engine coolant plug? No wonder the company is being driven into bankrupcy!

[shorod]

I don't believe block drain plugs are very common on many of the domestics. I've seen them on a few imports, but rarely on a domestic. Draining the radiator through either the petcock or by removing the lower radiator hose at the radiator, then flushing the system is about the only way to ensure you get the majority of the old coolant out.

-Rod

[Huney1]

"No wonder the company is being driven into bankrupcy!"
Sad fact of the matter is, Detroit never learned their lesson, or didn't remember it, from way back in the early 70's. While the foreign car manufacturers are on the move investing in more modern production methods Detroit continues stuck in its old rut. Loving human hands are good, but robots don't make mistakes. Check this out, Detroit doesn't have anything that even comes close to this assembley line of the future here today.
http://news.com.com/2100-11389_3-6124334.html Article from October of 2006.
"Sales climbed. They jumped from 28,083 in 2002 to 43,162 in 2003, and hit 175,157 last year. Toyota's goal is to reach 1 million in annual hybrid sales in the first few years of the next decade." Did you get that? Or better yet, is Detroit ready for that?

My job takes me in clients homes and I have clients that have been with me many yeras. Many times I see the elderly couple that drove a Caddy for years now in a new Honda Accord and when I ask why they say they are better built and don't have near as many problems as American cars. They know from jack about cars, but they do know their friend who drives a Honda drove it 150K miles with no mechanical problems. Don't flame me because we drive a Taurus and Marquis. I am merely relating what I have heard so many, many times and June 07 I will have 23 years in the service industry. Gas almost $3.00 a gal or better everywhere and Detriot continues to crank out them 9 mile per gal gas guzzlers and John Q Public keeps buying them. Oh well, to each his own . . . .

[cyrusyn]

Originally Posted by shorod

I don't believe block drain plugs are very common on many of the domestics. I've seen them on a few imports, but rarely on a domestic. Draining the radiator through either the petcock or by removing the lower radiator hose at the radiator, then flushing the system is about the only way to ensure you get the majority of the old coolant out.

-Rod

Ford Taurus FSM says that I have to unplug the drain plugs. But it doesn't tell me where they are!

Hunley// I agree. It seems that only people still royal to Ford is those in Southern country side and look what's Toyota latest offering is doing to them...

[Huney1]

Tomorow call the Ford place and ask the service dept where's the drain plug on your car because I don't know. Yes, a lot of Ford people down South but so many Crown Vics and Marquis owned by senior citizens like us and my fellow red neck good ole Bubba and his Ford truck are plentiful.

We got'ta saddle up and go to town and do some shopping so check wif' ya' later.

[cyrusyn]

Thanks for your helps, guys.
I flushed and filled cooling system today. I unhooked heater hoses and flushed it with 10 psi compressed air and I saw the most ugliest rusts coming out of heater core in a long time. Now heater works fine and temp guage needle is more stable. Thanks a lot, guys. Time to move on to OBD code 0431.

[Acidbath]

I know its an old post, but did you ever find the plugs? On my 92 they were on both sides of the block. The front kind of near the oil filter. And the rear is just below the freeze plug kinda near the oil pressure sender... here are a few pics.. I know its not the V-8 but the earlier ones had em.

Front Plug



Rear Plug