Engine block coolant drain plug (1 Viewer)

[namsag]

Well I thought I would take advantage of the first beautiful cool perfect Sunday afternoon of the year to drain and flush my coolant system. Studied up on it. Got everything ready.

Was able to slip a hose on the drain spout of the block plug, I thought this is gonna be a nice clean neat job. But it never seems to be that way with the 80. When I put a 10mm socket on the brass drain plug, the whole thing spins, big plug, spout and all. I cannot see a way to get something in to hold the whole plug still. MAYBE if I had a crowfoot wrench, I could hold the silver plug still and turn out the brass plug.

Is there any harm in taking the whole plug out? I guess my main concern would be getting it threaded in correctly at the end of a long extension when I go to put it back in.

Sorry if this seems elementary but I have learned to tread slowly and lightly around the 80, one job has a way of turning into two or three jobs if I am not careful.

Back on #@$#%&*@ standard time now, I am going to button it all back up and return to fight later in the week.

But would appreciate any advice on the engine block plug. Radiator drain cock gonna be a mother to get at too.

 

[bryson]

Your block drain looks like this I gather?

I'm jealous - my 96 and a previously owned 94 just had a regular old pipe plug. I didn't even know these drains existed until now. I wonder why some have them and apparently some don't?

Either way, there is no reason you can't just remove the whole assembly. When it comes time to reinstall it, I'm fairly certain you can get your arm in there easy enough - either from underneath the truck, or remove the wheel/tire and access it from the wheel well.

 

[rolliges]

Just unscrew the whole cock assy out to drain.

 

[namsag]

Yes thats what I have. Should I use some kind of thread sealant when I put the cock back in?

 

[NLXTACY]

I’m really bummed I never knew this existed til now. I hate letting the coolant just shoot out all over when I’m draining the block. Time to order a few.

 

[namsag]

Yeah I'm gonna have a mess the first time I guess but I'll loosen the brass plug while I have it out.

 

[pawnthatdude]

Wow this would have been great to know about a few weeks ago. Us peons only have a regular plug that, when removed, is like a coolant sprinkler in your garage.

 

[Kernal]

namsag: you can remove the entire plug ("cock") assembly.
I used some Lyme Away cleaner to remove the corrosion however that product is a mixture of acids and it will remove Cad or Zinc plating on fasteners.

Flushing cooling system and water pump installation

I'm doing a cooling system flush and water pump RR on my 96 80. While doing the oil pump and crank seal replacements I noticed that my water pump squeaked when rotated by hand and had a very slight amount of play, so decided to RR that while everything was apart. Glad I did as once I had the...

forum.ih8mud.com

(Back when I first posted this in 2011 I would spend way too much time cleaning up old nuts, bolts, fasterners, now I just replace them if still available. FWIW)

 

[namsag]

Thanks, I missed that thread, good stuff

 

[auttiman]

I wouldn’t be too worried about my cock getting screwed.