where is the....

[dthebuk]

"engine block drain plug" for the engine coolant.

ive only got a bad drawing of where it should roughly be

is this it



its the only thing that could be it, i just want to be sure



cheers

[grinder]

i thought the coolant drain plug was on one of the engine mounting blocks

[grinder]

hows this :

[grinder]

me again - found another pic

so it looks like its either

1 - in
2 - near
3 - thru

the engine mount

[Ricco_04]

IIRC it is one of the four from the left engine mount (drivers perspective)

[dthebuk]

i was looking for ages, i may have located it, but even if i drain it, it looks like the coolant will go all over the under tray, and tbh i don\'t just ye old axel stands enough to warrant taking it off. So how important is draining it when changing the coolant? This is on an egi.

o and thanks for the help so far much appreciated!!

[Kron]

You can\'t change the coolant without draining it.

[pdtaylor18]

or just flush it through with a hose, I usually go the whole way and remove the thermostat and clean it/inspect. Its only once a year so its worth doing. never even knew about the drain plug,often wondered but never looked into it.  Flushing for me gets everything out but I will use that plug in the future.  Its the lowest point so the best point really.

[David Nock (RIP)]

FB doesn\'t have a drain plug (at least, not one I\'ve ever found). I just drop off the bottom hose at the rad and do it all from there. There won\'t be much left in the 12A engine - I\'m sure it comes out 99.9%.
I change every 2 to 2 and a half years. Remember to have the heater on hot so that it drains from there as well.
Not a 2nd gen expert guys so remember to treat the above as for a 1st gen

[Prof]

I tend to do what David above does - tried the drain plug once, and you will want to remove the undertray -so if you do it go and buy some more clips first, as they will break for sure if it\'s not been removed in a while
 
It also helps if you jack up the drivers side a little more, as that aids draining, but do that after you\'ve drained the rad, because I think it\'s drain plug is over the other side a bit more.
 
My engines been out a few times so I usually just do the rad drain, bring the car up to temp, drain it, then use some rad cleaner/engine flush and run that for 5 mins or so, followed by a couple of rinses through with hose water, then finally I fill with antifreeze/distilled water to reduce the likelyhood of residue.  Always a good idea to carry a little of the mix around with you and fill up the expansion tank to the top level mark after a few miles / days, as it will settle out once any air pockets have been eliminated.

[dthebuk]

You can\'t change the coolant without draining it.

i meant by draining through the rad

anyway, to make the problem even worse ive completely ruinied the drain plug on the rad, my dad seems to be confident in getting it out but its an absolute state.


cheers for all the help anyway, ill let you know how it goes once i get the damn plug out

[Alex_Eng]

Iyou will want to remove the undertray -so if you do it go and buy some more clips first, as they will break for sure if it\'s not been removed in a while

 
Hey Prof, where can I get them clips from? I really do need to put my undertray back on at some stage.

[Prof]

Last lot I found were on eBay - but I used reusable tie wraps for the front holes and reconditioned bolts for the rear ones (took them off, nylon brushed to get all the guff out of the threads - try and avoid the wire brush as it will end up promoting rust, then oiled and copper greased before reusing them).

[Prof]

Just to add - if you only drain the rad, there will still be half the coolant in the system, as both water pipes sit quite high on the engine block.
 
(Information came from Rotechniks - and looking at the plumbing they are as usual spot on.)

[David Nock (RIP)]

Just to add - if you only drain the rad, there will still be half the coolant in the system, as both water pipes sit quite high on the engine block.
 
(Information came from Rotechniks - and looking at the plumbing they are as usual spot on.)

So that\'s the difference to the 12A then. The bottom hose on the 12A is lowish where it comes off the engine, so Mazda didn\'t fit a drain plug to that engine.