Can't find the coolant drain plug???

If all you're gonna do is drain/refill, perhaps you might just drain via removing the lower radiator hose. Then, fill with water (distilled water is best), warm the engine to let it burp. Finally, drain it once again and fill with fresh coolant. Be careful not to mix different kinds of coolant. Sure, it won't give you the perfection you desire but it should be much easier and just as effective. Having a pro shop flush it's still an option. Drink

The radiator drain is located on the lower passenger side of the radiator, toward the engine. It will either look like a bolt on a bit of pipe or a flat knob with an extension underneath.

You put a hose on that bit of pipe and run it into a catch bucket then open the valve. Remember to take the radiator cap off or it will drain rather slowly. :)

This will get "most" of the coolant out of the system, but not all. It's close enough without messing with draining the block.

Just go with the radiator drain-n-fill. If you drain/fill often enough, you shouldn't have to resort to block draining, chemicals or flushing. Use the right stuff: Zerex G-05 is the only thing spec'd for my '05 TJL, and it's likely the same for yours. Forget about 'universal' or 'compatible' coolants: use the right stuff. And always use distilled water for the mix.

The flush-n-fill kits make short work of cleaning the old coolant and stuff out and only cost a few dollars.

And as someone else mentioned use only Zerex Green or Zerex G-05 and distilled water. The proper coolant is available at PepBoys and NAPA.

What these guys said. You only really need to remove the block drain, if the cooling system is known to be full of sludge. On a vehicle this young, I wouldn't expect that unless it had been overheated and refilled with raw tap water several times.

Earle

Hi Dennis:

I couldn't find the drain plug either. I looked on my '02 and '06 Wrangler. It seems to be buried behind all kinds of "stuff."

Here is what I did:

Tom

Thanks to all for your response. Sounds like installing the flushing tee is the way to go. I had a rough time finding the Zerex G-05 antifreeze. First I went to Carquest and they never heard of it ,so then I went to Napa and they never heard of it, went to Advance Auto and they don't carry it, and these are all vendors who are supposed to have it. Don't have a Pep Boys in town so my last chance was Auto Zone. They had it hidden away in a far corner of the store away from all the rest of the antifreeze?????????

Thanks again, Dennis B

In the Cleveland, Ohio area, Advance Auto and AutoZone both carry it.

You could also go to any Chrysler or Jeep dealer and get the Mopar brand there.

Tom

Thanks Mr. Hughes for your help, I appreciate you taking the time. I agree that draining the block would be an important step but I can't find the drain plug. I don't want to remove the exhaust manifold looking for it because I'm not sure where the drain plug is. It's not where the service manual says it's located or at least I can't see it.The illustration that you point out is not the same configuration as what I have in my Wrangler. The exhaust manifold is more massive and there are two exhaust pipes attached to it. Also the coolant temperature sensor is located in the thermostat housing not in the engine block. The jeep only has 60,000 miles on it so I hope that there isn't much yuk in there at this point to hurt anything. Since I'm changing from the original antifreeze to the G-05 I will do a water hose flush to remove all of the old stuff and hope that will be sufficient at least this time around. In the mean time I'll try to find out if this engine has the drain plug, where it's located and if it can be accessed with out doing a major tear down. I wonder why they didn't put the plug on the right side of the engine? It would be much more accessible. Thanks, Dennis B

Can't make it out from this but it looks like the bolt yours calls out.

moved the temp sensor up to the waterpump output.(stupid location because it will fail if the coolant gets low)

This may be his problem.... where's the plug?

I don't understand why you are changing types of antifreeze. This is not normally a good thing to do, 'especially' if you aren't going to drain the block.

Be aware that the block and heater will hold close to 50% of the system's volume with the water you use to flush it so when filling it back up, you need to use at least 50% of the system's volume in 'pure' antifreeze first, then top it up with distilled water. Normally it will only take a quart or two once the 50% pure is in.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

If he used the flush-n-fill kit he bought the different coolants shouldn't be a problem.

Someone a while back (Earle?) mentioned using an air compressor turned down to 10-15 psi to blow the water out of the heater core. I've never tried that and hesitate to use a compressor but perhaps a few puffs on the upper heater hose would work to evacuate the water.

As Mike mentioned always use the coolant concentrate because there is always a bit of residual water and you want to coolant concentration to be 50-60% (Less than 44% offers almost no anti-corrosion or cavitation protection) The minerals in tap water promote corrosion, use distilled water to top off the system.

I took a look at my 4 liter last night, if the drain plug is where Bill says then there is no way to easily access it if you are crawling underneath as the exhaust system pre-cats block a large section of real estate.. I pulled the lower radiator hose loose.

My system was full of slime as the original owner allowed her corner quickie-lube to top it off with Prestone universal (she left the maintenance receipts with the Jeep) and it turned the factory G-05 into reddish-brown slime. I used the Zerex flush to clean the cooling system out and continued using the flush-n-fill kit far longer than the directions indicate. I kept cycling the flush and fills until the system ran completely clear and then did it twice more after that..... just to make sure all the slime was gone...

What did you do with all that waste fluid?

billy ray wrote:

I collect the first drain which was the existing coolant into a bucket, after that the dilute flush and rinse water went into the floor drain.