please help before i kill my car

[infinity5]

i'm trying to drain the god-forsaken coolant out of my m60. welll the radiator drain plug is easy as pie to get off, but bently says theres an engine block plug under cyclinder 6. (thats the drivers side right?) and i assume becuase the thermostat is closed just draining the radiator won't get it all out, correct? soo how the fdsasdlkh do i get the engine block drain plug off? its impossible. i can't fit a rachet, with any number of u-joints or extensions in there, i can't turn any type of tool in the small space, and the exhaust is so close i actually can't even fit the rachet over the bolt. maybe if i drive all the way back *across* town to sears i can find some $60 contraption i'll never use again to do this. if anyone has photos so i can check that i'm actually doing the right screw it'd be awesome. to get anyhting normal over the bolt i'd have to drop the front x-member, unbolt the exhaust manifolds, jack up the engine and remove the engine mounts (i think they're in the way too) and take off both AT cooler lines (they're in the way to) and while i'm here, would anyone trade their 6cyl for my 8? grrr

[632 Regal]

i just drained the passanger side and refilled with water, ran it and re drained the pass side. WHen it was clean I added straight antifreeze before i finished with distilled water. Forget that drivers side nightmare, as soon as I looked I knew that wasnt going to happen!

[infinity5]

thanks a lot. yeah i didn't know there were two until after i posted and started researching the subject.. hmm.. although i'm not entirely sure the passager side looked like a piece of cake either we'll see! wish me luck

i just drained the passanger side and refilled with water, ran it and re drained the pass side. WHen it was clean I added straight antifreeze before i finished with distilled water. Forget that drivers side nightmare, as soon as I looked I knew that wasnt going to happen!

[tim]

You could just forget about the block drains imho. It's so easy to do the rad drain and bleed, just do it a little more often, and you should be covered.

[632 Regal]

and drained the pass side and refilled and ran it, i was getting a pretty stiff green for 3 flushes. If you dont drain the block id say you would have to fil, run and flush probably at least half a dozen times and then not have enough room to get enough antifreeze in there to stop it from freezing. I could only get about a gallon out with the radiator only.

[tim]

I have it on my list of things to do when I'm doing something else anyway. I've done it, but wouldn't on a routine flush, which I do about twice a year. The last time I did the drivers, I was replacing the power steering hoses. On the passenger side I'll do it if the car's up and I've already disconnected the battery. BTW, if you do do it, watch yourself around that live elec post. Bentleys only calls for the right plug when doing a drain, and doesn't even acknowledge the left one.

[632 Regal]

I have it on my list of things to do when I'm doing something else anyway. I've done it, but wouldn't on a routine flush, which I do about twice a year. The last time I did the drivers, I was replacing the power steering hoses. On the passenger side I'll do it if the car's up and I've already disconnected the battery. BTW, if you do do it, watch yourself around that live elec post. Bentleys only calls for the right plug when doing a drain, and doesn't even acknowledge the left one.

[tim]

barely.

[632 Regal]

barely.

[infinity5]

well i might not have cared so much except the previous owners had filled the car up with the green stuff, probably walmart brand superduper coolant and i wanted to get every drop out. i also had no idea when the system had last been flushed, and the previous owners weren't exactly big on maintainence. i used a hose and i flushed the system about 3 times maybe 4. i even drove it around the block completly empty (or as empty as i could get it) to make sure the thermostat opened and to pump out as much as i could. i've still got about half a gallon of of my mixed coolant i can't fit. so theres half a gallon of coolant i couldn't flush because i couldn't get the drivers side plug out. not too bad. the green stuff can mix with the blue stuff and.. what color does that make? oh well.

You could just forget about the block drains imho. It's so easy to do the rad drain and bleed, just do it a little more often, and you should be covered.