On my 1999 Olds Intrigue with 3.5L engine, I was planning to change the coolant. When I looked at the draincock, though, instead of having the familiar "wing" (kind of like a large plastic wingnut) to turn, it was just a plastic plug that barely protruded from the drain hole with nothing to grab on to.
Thinking the wings had somehow broken off the plug (maybe during manufacturing), I went to my Olds dealer. The shop foreman took one look at the drain plug and said that it wasn't broken, but was just the type of plug that was put in at the factory. I asked him how to get it out, and he said "just pop it out with a screwdriver".
(As a side note, I asked how the dealer changed the coolant and whether they replace the plug with a regular wing type drain c*ck, and he told me that they don't even open the drain c*ck; they just pull the lower radiator hose off because it takes less time to drain the coolant that way . . . so much for dealers following the shop manual.)
Anyway, I ordered a new genuine Olds drain c*ck specifically for my car (about $3.00) and it is a normal "winged" drain c*ck.
My question (if you're still awake), is: Could some Olds and other GM car owners tell me if they've seen a "plug" in the radiator drain c*ck hole instead of a normal winged drain c*ck? Or is my dealer just feeding me some bull?
Thanks everyone.