Block Drain and Drain Plug Removal

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Thanks for all the advise. Great pictures of tools to help me today. Will make a run to the hardware store for the fittings to try a combo air/water approach. I did get some sediment under the thermostat from my 50 psi approach yesterday that I did not think did anything.

I have removed the thermostat w/o snapping the bolts on the water housing :clap:. Bolts were very rusty and will have to inspect to see if the aluminum threads still grip -- hope so. Radiator stop cock does not yield water -- I guess no surprise. Just more time. Dropped the radiator water last night... did not look too bad. Now with hoses off I can back flush.

I assume I should disconnect the belt to allow the water pump to spin for back flushing??????

Will probably have the radiator cleaned after I get all this crud out.

You all have great ideas and keep throwing in you $.02
 
Bittsandbobs said:
Perhaps a more gentle approach? Try to thread a tap into the sludge plug?
Cheers,
B&B
Click to expand...

Thanks Bittsandbobs --- interesting approach --- will see if I have a tap to fit --- tight quarters for a hammer down there.
 
Steamer said:
How about drilling with a masonry bit? I doubt you'll break through with air or water pressure but you're probably gonna want some fittings for flushing for when you do break through so it's worth a try. I can't say that those threads are not BSPT but I know that 3/8" ID nominal pipe works so well I think that's what it is. Home depot has all that stuff. When it comes to the garden hose fittings just remember that 3/4 hose threads and 3/4" pipe threads are different. So close they're easy to mix up. One will start on the other but won't make up right and you'll have the squirts. Pipe threads are tapered with sharp pointy threads. Hose threads are non tapered with rounded threads.
Click to expand...

Steamer -- thanks for the picture --- worth a 1000 words. Will go off to hardware store for fitting run. Need to print this picture somehow.
 
Great Idea --- Yep -- was looking for a "roto-rooter" type of of tool. A drain snake of small diameter --- bicycle cable might do the trick on the end of a drill. A cable would be long enough so you don't have to mess with the close quarters to get a drill bit in there. It is tight from underneath.
 
I really like the flex idea. Good thinking!
 
No success with the roto-rooter concept. Used an old throttle cable. Couldn't work it into the block.

Took out the thermostat and hooked up the hose to back-flush through the heater hose with fitting. Left out the drain plug to see if that would break free. Did not free things up. I flush and filled the radiator with water. I started the engine and turned on the heaters and got junk out of the system. Not that much crud really.

I ran it for about 20 minutes. Checked temperatures with the laser thermometer. W/O thermostat,it was running 169 degrees at to of radiator where the hose enters, and 157 at the bottom of the radiator at the exit hose. I will drain again tomorow after it has cooled down and run more water through the system. Probably will try to do it 3 to 4 times. But, will let it cool in between dropping the water so will take 3 days or so. Better method by anybody else? Temperatures OK? Back of the block was warmer by a couple of degrees than the front still in the 160s.

Still thinking about how to get the junk out.
 
Thought you'd wanna know how far in till ya hit the cylinder wall across from the drain so I measured for ya. That 1/4" pipe nipple in the hole is sagging a little in the pic but checking several times I get 1-1/4" from the cylinder to the outside edge of the drain boss. if you cut down a 3/8 pipe nipple you could make a depth gauge for drilling or pounding in a bolt so you couldn't hit the cylinder.
IMG_1480w.webp
IMG_1486w.webp
IMG_1489w.webp
 
Another good tool Steamer. Have to try that one tomorrow. Had to bust a brick wall down at the house today and gave the FJ40 another flush with water after driving about 20 minutes.

STATUS:

Things tried:
1. Air pressure -- nothing -- get a little "weeping" from the drain. Not much
2. High Pressure washer - careful not to pressurize. result was no improvement in flow. May attempt again.
3. Have backflushed 4 times now after work and filled with water.... idled for 15 minutes and driven for another 20 minutes and then flushed the next day.

Not getting much crud out of the engine. However, thinking I am not getting much going through the engine block since I am hooked into the the heater hose. Both heaters are working great. Maybe my blockage is due to Previous Owner putting in some leak stop. Need to figure out how to flush just through the block. If I had a functioning drain I think it would be easier. I did try the pressure washer but may need to give it a little more time on the hole.... I did not want to pressurize the system.

Temperatures after running down the road go a little past the 1st mark on the temp gauge. After driving the rig for 7 miles and getting up to 55mph, the temperatures w/o a thermostat get up to:

180 on the head
192 in the water jacket (front to back)
182 influent radiator hose
169 on lower hose of radiator tube
170 lower hose connection at the waterpump

However, things just feet hot. My hoodpost is hot when I open the hood to take temperatures. This is probably due to the ehasut manifod running near 400 degrees.

Still trying to find how to take off my radiator stop cock since open or closed it does not flow either (see other thread).

Will try the brute force method with the "steamer Sleeve" and bolt to see If I can break it free. However, maybe it does not matter with the temperatures that I am getting???????

I am putting in a stock thermostat.... i BELIEVE IT OPENS AT 190DEGREES. Got it from Dan.
 
Revival of a very old thread: Maybe this will help someone in the future: Just wanted to shed a bit of light on unplugging a clogged engine drain. After removing the 14 mm brass drain cock, I was able to then remove the 19mm drain housing which threads into the engine block. The drain hole in the block was plugged up solid. I tried unsuccessfully to break through the crud with a drift and a hammer. Next I used a small drill bit to carefully drill the center of the plug. That achieved a breakthrough and I began to get a small amount of flow. I was then able to use various picks to remove the remaining residue until there was full unobstructed flow. I then flushed with copious amount of water with the engine running. Finally, I applied vacuum and I blew some compressed air.

Below for comparison purposes is a photo on the left of the old drain showing the hole is completely plugged. (no wonder there was no flow) Compare with a new drain cock assembly shown on the right. I will be replacing with a Non-USA Drain with a port for connecting a drain hose from @ToyotaMatt (Thank you Matt for all that you do!) NON-USA OEM TOYOTA NOS Side Engine Block Drain Pet Cock , fits 1963-1990 FJ40, FJ55, FJ60, FJ62 F , 2F , 3FE - VintageTEqParts.com - https://vintageteqparts.com/products/copy-of-oem-toyota-nos-side-engine-block-drain-pet-cock-fits-1963-1990-fj40-fj55-fj60-fj62-f-2f-3fe

08.12.2022.Engine Drain Cocks.1.webp


08.12.2022.Engine Drain Cocks.2.webp


08.11.2022.Block Drain.1.webp
 
ToyotaMatt said:
vintageteqparts.com

NON-USA OEM TOYOTA NOS Side Engine Block Drain Pet Cock , fits 1963-1990 FJ40, FJ55, FJ60, FJ62 F , 2F , 3FE - VintageTEqParts.com

NOTE: Rubber Clear Hose Only Photo ProP NON-USA OEM TOYOTA NOS Side Engine Block Drain Pet Cock , With...
vintageteqparts.com







​

View attachment 3084664





View attachment 3084666
View attachment 3084667
View attachment 3084668
Click to expand...
I ordered these parts months ago, still not received nor has the company returned any of my emails
Are they out of business, I feel scammed
 
Nolacajun75 said:
I ordered these parts months ago, still not received nor has the company returned any of my emails
Are they out of business, I feel scammed
Click to expand...
This has been covered hundreds of time. @ToyotaMatt aka Vintageteqparts.com is a one man show. One just has to exercise a little patience. Just get a hold of him here. Hope this helps (since I just tagged him). 😉
 
firemanj92 said:
This has been covered hundreds of time. @ToyotaMatt aka Vintageteqparts.com is a one man show. One just has to exercise a little patience. Just get a hold of him here. Hope this helps (since I just tagged him). 😉
Click to expand...
Oh okay, sorry about that. Thank you for letting me know. I appreciate it. I was going to order some more parts but it's been so long since I placed the first order. I didn't want to make another order until I at least received what I purchased already. Okay cool. I'll wait about how long you think it takes couple months? Y'all have a great day and I appreciate it. It does help
 
Nolacajun75 said:
Looking good brother. I just got through doing that. About 15 times in every direction and every hole. Good God Almighty. Now I'm fighting the air Pocket burping nightmare.
Click to expand...
i still gotta fill mine, the reason i ended up here is because i had an air bubble i guess and kept overheating so decided to drain the whole system and start fresh, we'll see this weekend how it goes. best of luck to both of us.
 
Ozpall said:
i still gotta fill mine, the reason i ended up here is because i had an air bubble i guess and kept overheating so decided to drain the whole system and start fresh, we'll see this weekend how it goes. best of luck to both of us.
Click to expand...
I hear that brother. Same here them damn bubbles are a pain in the butt. Went through two thermostats already thinking I had something wrong. Now I'm running no thermostat and it's working just fine. I've been through it all
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom