Radiator drain mods?

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S

SPANNERSPINNER

10 Year
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Oct 10, 2012
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Southern California
Has anyone modified their radiator drain so the thing doesn't piss coolant everywhere? I've got my cooling system out of my FJ62 while I'm replacing the head and the thing spit coolant right down onto the frame and the brace with basically nowhere to put a funnel or a catch of any sort so I wound up with a bunch on the ground. I'd like to not have to deal with that again as I have to flush my cooling system (surprising how much rust is in the block) once I get the engine back together.

Anyone modify or replace their drain plug to make this better?
 
Ive seen it done on a few cars but I cant see anything good coming from having something on the cooling system that could get caught up whilst wheeling

I think it was kevin? the guy from wagon gear? that had a drain hose on his beige 60
 
Have you considered doing something like a quick disconnect? You could toss the hose in the back for when it's needed, and the connection would still be out of the way. Might be a PITA to hook up, but it's probably less of a PITA than trying to clean coolant off of everything.
 
Someone on this forum has installed a hose barb in the radiator, then a hose, then another barb, with a plug at the end.

I wanna say it was KR of Wagon Gear, but I'm not sure. This is a mod I want to do. Don't drain my coolant that much. But when I do :mad:

I successfully folded a piece of aluminum once that funneled it away from the frame. Better. But not perfect.
 
It was Kevin, might as well do the mods while you are into that area! Good luck and post up pics.

...via IH8MUD app
 
I just drained mine this weekend. I had dealt with the drain plug before numerous times.

This weekend the solution was staring me in the face. I pulled the lower hose. super easy.

Both methods make a huge mess.
 
Just crack it open to a slow dribble and use a plastic deflector to guide the dribble off the frame into a square plastic bin. No mess. Just slow. Patience is rewarded. Dribble it.
 
Would a FJ40 extension work on the FJ62 radiator? The end would be brought rearward and clear the front angle frame section better and one could aim the hole for a nice dribble...
s-l1600.webp
 
@CaptClose, this reminds me I must get one of those petcocks? Seriously I’ll never remember that weird name. Tell us all what it is you added to your 60 radiator drain hole instead of that annoying plastic plug?
 
OSS said:
Just crack it open to a slow dribble and use a plastic deflector to guide the dribble off the frame into a square plastic bin. No mess. Just slow. Patience is rewarded. Dribble it.
Click to expand...
Too slow!
 
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CaptClose said:
Something similar to this. Just attach a piece of silicon hose and run it directly to your bitch ass neighbor’s yard (or bucket) no mess, but still not as fast as taking a knife and slicing the bottom hose off.

View attachment 1756931
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But finding one of those that is the right thread pitch and everything is the hard part. I looked and looked before I swapped my radiator this spring and could never find something reliably that would 100% fit.
 
gregnash said:
But finding one of those that is the right thread pitch and everything is the hard part. I looked and looked before I swapped my radiator this spring and could never find something reliably that would 100% fit.
Click to expand...

I may have lucked out... but I wouldn’t be opposed to re-tapping the hole, if this was a make a break mod for me (which it isn’t). A little spilled coolant cleans up fast an easy with a few shop towels.
 
CaptClose said:
I may have lucked out... but I wouldn’t be opposed to re-tapping the hole, if this was a make a break mod for me (which it isn’t). A little spilled coolant cleans up fast an easy with a few shop towels.
Click to expand...

I just ended up finding a funnel that had one of the longer, extended lips on one side and used that.
 
Ive used a large plastic storage box (think Rubbermaid, etc) to catch the broad area of run off the crappy drain design creates. Works well to capture the drain from the engine block petcock too, and rear heater if you have one.
I was surprised at the amount of coolant I captured, minimal amount down the driveway. Then pour it into the empty coolant/water bottles for disposal.
The trick is finding a box low enough and wide enough to fit under the front spring.

At least my new Mishimoto rad has a hex nut for a drain plug and not the stupid plastic wing nut you can’t get your fingers on.
 
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