Coolant Change - Engine Drain Plug

[rj10000_99]

I just "changed" my coolant. I was unable to remove the engine coolant drain plug (the plug on the right front wheel side). Hex wrenches could not remove the bolt as the thread was in poor shape and the hex wrench (tried a bunch of them) just rotated in the hole. I tried creating a slot with a Dremel to stick a screwdriver in to rotate the plug but no luck (it does not budge at all). There is no way to wrench it off since there is too much in the way to get a grip.

Since I did get the main radiator drain off I replaced 6 liters of a coolant / water mix.

My questions are: a) how necessary is it to flush the radiator (never been done before, 2001 Olds, 100,000 miles, old coolant was in very good shape)?

and b) what is your opinion on not changing all the coolant? Perhaps if I do another 6 liters at 150,000 miles (about 3 years from now)?

Thanks for any advice.

[panzer dragoon]

-get the old Dex-Cool out since it's now 5+ years old.

b) what is your opinion on not changing all the coolant? Perhaps if I do another 6 liters at 150,000 miles (about 3 years from now)?

-sounds good. If your coolant starts getting floaters you maybe didn't get enough of the Dex-Cool out, but that is doubtful since no-one here has ever had that problem and they didn't use the engine collant drain plug either.

[Hoppy2]

Are there any tricks to bleeding the system when refilling? I have to flush and refill my intrigue this fall. I bought new prestone long life coolant for it last night, so I may do it this weekend yet or next.

[panzer dragoon]

there is a bleeder on the radiator (plastic 1/2 turn plug). Left side upper radiator on the side. The reservoir is fairly high so the system should self bleed (air will be forced to the highest point).

I changed my coolant and I did have some fish tank burbling for a few months. It's now gone =system self bleeds the air out.

I say get as much dexcool out first. Don't mix the old dexcool with the new universal stuff. My engine runs cooler with the new universal stuff than it ever did with the dexcool.

[Hoppy2]

So you are saying that your car runs cooler with the green prestone? I have heard bad things about the new long life coolant in chevy blazers and jimmys. Clogging of the entire cooling system seems to be the problem with them.

I had a look at my rad and didn't see anything on the left side of it. I did see some kind of screw on the right side though. Is this it?

[panzer dragoon]

I'm running the orange, Universal, DexCool approved stuff.

Facing the car, left hand side, upperside of the radiator. Look from the side of the radiator -should be a service hole.

Lower-right side of radiator is the drain valve.

[rj10000_99]

The radiator fluid change was not bad at all (aside from the experience with the engine drain plug). If you are just going to use the main drain value it will take you less than an hour.

If you don't have your car on a lift the main drain value may be hard to see. I recommend unscrewing the plastic guard at the bottom of the car first (five bolts). If you are sitting in the driver's seat the plug is facing you in the lower left corner (white plug). I used a screwdriver to turn it (or you can use a pliers but there's limited room). You don't have to take the plug out, the drain plug is on a 'track' that rotates the seal away from the car as you turn it. After letting it drain for a few minutes on its own take out the bleed valve, it will drain a little faster.

The bleed value is a small (size of a quarter) black hand-twist type screw on the upper right of the radiator (facing the passenger seat).

Once I screwed the main drain plug back in I filled the radiator with universal coolant (Prestone in the gray container). I filled the radiator through the bleed valve until the fluid started to come out of the bleed valve; I then screwed on the bleed valve and filled the rest through the overflow tank.

The car runs a tad cooler than before.

It is funny, I do get the gurgling noise too when I start the car! I would re-check the fluid after a day of driving as the overflow tank was a little lower than I would like it to be (especially after reading the stories about how DexCool and air sometimes cause problems).

I bought a container of SuperFlush but I did not use it. Since I could not get the engine drain plug off I was afraid of having residual flush fluid in the radiator. If you look around the internet there are some horror stories surrounding DexCool so I didn't want to take any chances. You could do a flush with just water, just be sure to re-fill the radiator with the right amount of DexCool at the end before topping off with water to make sure you get to the 50/50 mix. My old radiator fluid was in very good condition (as far as I could tell visually) so I didn't do the water flush.

[Hoppy2]

I have a bottle of super flush that I am going to use, but one other thing is that I also bought a flushing kit to install on the heater hose that I am going to use to flush out the stuff in the system.

That is the onlything that I am worried about is getting the air out of the system. I know this engine is all aluminum and am scared to have bad things happen!

Thanks Guys,

Hoppy

[alejmr]

A question that maybe will ake you laugh..... and sorry for that, where is the heater hose? I know that when you flush your system, you have to let the water run through there.

[Hoppy2]

Nay problem. The only stupid question is the one that was never asked!

The heater hoses typically come out of the engine and route their way to your heater core inside your HVAC ducting. Usually there is a hose that comes from the upper intake of your vehicle, or if an inline engine, the end of the cylinder head, near the thermostat. The coolant flows through hoses and tubing to the heater core then from the heater core to the water pump. It is a constantly recirculating system, usually, unless there is a shut off valve. This system is part of the cooling system, but does not hook up directly to the radiator. The coolant will only flow through the radiator when the thermostat opens, but does not affect the heater in your car. That is why it is wise if your engine is overheating to put your heater on full blast. It will help cool the engine, but not completely. That is what the radiator in your car does, main cooling.