Radiator Drain

[Grover]

It was time to drain and refill my coolant so I added a radiator inline hose drain
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performance+Products/555/51155/10002/-1

to the lower radiator hose.

Install was easy, you need about 3" worth of straight hose, see pix.
Also this location is the lowest part of the hose which helps for draining coolant.

Cheers...

[woldd90]

Nice mod...

[Grover]

Woops...I meant to put this in the Smaller Projects section...

[Bill Larson]

looks good!! sounds like a good thing for me to do next!!

[Overlander]

That's TOOOIGHT! On my TODO list.

[Grover]

Yes, it's tight in there...
I had to remove the A/C belt to get the box cutter 90 degrees to the hose...measure 10x cut once...lol

Cheers...

[Overlander]

I meant tight as in awesome.

[rover4x4]

Were you able to reinstall the ac belt? Id drain more often but its always a huge mess thanks for sharing this.

[Grover]

Re-installed the A/C belt...
Draining coolant is sooooo easy now...

[rover4x4]

Ordered two today thanks for sharing this, I know it will make my life so much easier

Man its clean under your hood. I am assuming you trimmed the stock hose back a little?

[Grover]

Ordered two today thanks for sharing this, I know it will make my life so much easier

Man its clean under your hood. I am assuming you trimmed the stock hose back a little?

Thanks, I try to keep my D clean...

I cut 1" out of the hose to accommodate for the drain.
The drain piece is 3" long, 1" goes into each hose and 1" is exposed as you see in the pix.

I pumped the coolant out before I cut the hose. Only about a cup worth came out of the hose...

Good luck with the install

Cheers...

[psykokid]

Is the internal opening of the petcock threaded? It's hard to tell from the photos. If it is you could thread a hose barb in there and have a mess free way to drain the coolant.

[Grover]

Is the internal opening of the petcock threaded? It's hard to tell from the photos. If it is you could thread a hose barb in there and have a mess free way to drain the coolant.

No, it is not threaded, however, the coolant drains straight down into a funnel...mess free...

[Manimal]

For those of you with steering guards, how do you drain without making a mess? Letting it splash all over the guard is not ideal. I'm thinking of making a wide mouth hose & funnel to route it into a container. Any other suggestions?

[Manimal]

Awesome. I just took a shower in coolant for the third time. Funnel doesn't work and coolant doesn't taste that great either.

Is this drain fitted on the bottom hose? Looks different than mine. Would it fit in the same spot for a 300tdi? I cant tell what location that is. Must be for a V8. For everyone with a 300tdi, is the only option for draining to make a big fat mess? Looking at what I have I would need a T-shaped drain valve.

[rover4x4]

Let it fly, just keep the dog out of the shop until you can wash the floor down. Having just gone through this what a PITA.

[o2batsea]

Um, well here's another option that requires SCIENCE!
Many of us who have the plastic or brass radiator plug can simply remove it, stick a (clear) siphon hose down to the bottom of the radiator. Create your siphon into a container and let physics take over. No this won't get every last drop of coolant out, but it make less mess.

[Manimal]

I have a super siphon hose that I'll try next time. The problem with the 300tdi rad though is that you can't seem to get very far down into it. Has anyone tried the block drain on a 300tdi? Smaller hole = more control? Just curious how to access it.

[Grover]

Mine is a 3.9L V8. The drain can be installed on any motor/hose provided with enough room.

Cheers...

[Antichrist]

Whenever I have a radiator re-cored, I installed a petcock drain at a bottom corner.
Um, well here's another option that requires SCIENCE!
Many of us who have the plastic or brass radiator plug can simply remove it, stick a (clear) siphon hose down to the bottom of the radiator. Create your siphon into a container and let physics take over. No this won't get every last drop of coolant out, but it make less mess.That's what I do for those without a drain. I got a long piece of vinyl tubing a 'T' and a cork to fit.
I cut off two sections, fit the 'T', fit the other two pieces to the 'T' and use one of them to start the siphon and then stick the cork in that piece of tubing once the fluid starts to run.
Using this method also lets you only drain as much as needed, for instance, if you're changing a water pump no need to drain as much.

[don]

O2batsea - thanks for the siphon trick tip. I need to pull the radiator soon and will try it out. Was looking at it today and was thinking it was going to be messy trying any other way.

I do think the jegs valve is slick too and might try it depending on how the siphon method works.

[Neil McCauley]

But then the oil filter is going to get coolant splashed onto it ;) Actually I like the idea of getting a plug welded in, will do that next time I get my radiator recored as well.

[Overlander]

I have a super siphon hose that I'll try next time. The problem with the 300tdi rad though is that you can't seem to get very far down into it. Has anyone tried the block drain on a 300tdi? Smaller hole = more control? Just curious how to access it.

I looked into this. This drain valve would have to be smaller (like 1/2") to work on the hose that runs under the tdi fan shroud. It's a v8 option for now.

[Grover]

But then the oil filter is going to get coolant splashed onto it ;) Actually I like the idea of getting a plug welded in, will do that next time I get my radiator recored as well.

Nope...no coolant splashes on the oil filter, no even a tiddlty bit:)

[Manimal]

I'm not too concerned with splashing my oil filter. Getting drenched, drinking coolant and dumping it all over the driveway just seem idiotic though. The steering guard doesn't make it any easier. There has to be a better way. As stated the Jegs fitting won't work with a 300tdi radiator and a siphon will only go down halfway. Installing a drain plug is a good idea for the next radiator purchase. I haven't look at it yet but a threaded fitting attached to a hose should work well on the block drain plug. That way ypu just undo the drain bolt, attach the hose which then goes into an appropriate container.

[Grover]

I'm not too concerned with splashing my oil filter. Getting drenched, drinking coolant and dumping it all over the driveway just seem idiotic though. The steering guard doesn't make it any easier. There has to be a better way. As stated the Jegs fitting won't work with a 300tdi radiator and a siphon will only go down halfway. Installing a drain plug is a good idea for the next radiator purchase. I haven't look at it yet but a threaded fitting attached to a hose should work well on the block drain plug. That way ypu just undo the drain bolt, attach the hose which then goes into an appropriate container.
Why wouldn't the hose drain work on a 300tdi rad?

[Manimal]

If you look inside the 300tdi radiator you'll see that you can't very far down with a hose. In a V8 radiator you can get the hose all the way down to the bottom (from what I have been told).

[Grover]

hmmm...I'd have to see pix...