Drain plug confusion????

[ctwright]

I have a 93 Buick Regal with the 3800 engine. I have an oil pump kit was going to install the gears, was going through the list of things to do to get to the pump, you have to drain the coolant and oil before you get started.

Well, the car appeared to be full of water, I just added some not long ago, well, will add this too incase it may have something to do with it, I added something called Bars Leaks Head Gasket Repair to the radiator, followed the directions as described.

Well, when I pulled the drain plugs, nothing came out, bone dry. But when I went to take the timing cover off, which is also part of the water pump housing, water started coming out all over the place.

How is this possible, why didn't I have any water come out of my drain plugs. Did that stuff I put in block off water flow somewhere, and how can I fix the problem if it did.

[HotZ28]

Originally Posted by ctwright

How is this possible, why didn't I have any water come out of my drain plugs. Did that stuff I put in block off water flow somewhere, and how can I fix the problem if it did.

Yes, Bars Leaks will block passages, especially the drain. You could use a small screwdriver to free the blockage. After removing the front cover, be sure to drain the oil pan once again & change the filter, the oil pan will have plenty of coolant in it!

[ctwright]

Thanks for the reply, I will do that. I'm probably going to go ahead and replace the seal at the crank while I have all of that apart, and also remove the oil pan and reseal it as well, the car has a bad oil leak, oil all over the place. The car has been a headache since I've had it for the past two years. Water pump, fuel pump, alternator, ignition cylinder(got stuck in the run position even when turned to off with key out), starter, coolant bypass hose fitting(broke off with threads left in the intake), tps. All that stuff and probably more I can't remember at the moment and now the oil pump.