[JayBanion]

Im trying to drain my coolent so I change change my theromostat and put fresh coolent in. First of all whoever designed the location of the drain plug is an idiot. So its not brass plug, or the type with the wingnut. Its all plastic and has a spout on it. It will turn a quarter of a turn and then stop, I can freely turn it that quarter but it seems like its not ment to turn anymore. The local Jeep shop said it should turn all the way out but Im not believing it. I think its supposed to turn the quater of a turn then coolent should start to drain from the spout but its not. Maybe im wrong. So how the hell does this plug work.

[CJ7-Tim]

Do not use the drain plug. As you are discovering, it is poorly located and is made from fragile plastic. If you break the plug, you will be buying and installing a new radiator.

Remove the lower radiator hose to drain your cooling system.

[MightyMouse13]

Drainplug worked great for me. Remore grill, unscrew plug...done. It should unscrew the whole way. But if yours is in rough shape, I would use the rad hose.

[JayBanion]

Ok Ill do that instead, I was thinking of doing that but I didnt want gallons of coolent rushing out all over my garage floor lol. Before I put the new coolent in can run water through my system from the garden hose via a coolent hose to flush out any crap in the block, I did this with my mustang and it seemed to work fairly well at gettin the crap out till it ran clear.

[JayBanion]

I used the rad hose, mines in good shape, but I didnt wanna risk it leakin afterwards. Does anyone else hate stock factory hose clamps?

[hubs97xj]

I like them, but I have an odd pair of slipjoint pliers that work very well on clamps. I also clean the connections on the rad and motor off, and none have leaked so far...

My stock drainplug was a pain- it worked fine without leaking, or breaking when I drained the rad, but it took forever, and I never got more than a gallon out via the drain. I just use a catchpan and pop the lower hose off now.

[88XJSport]

Originally Posted by CJ7-Tim

Do not use the drain plug. As you are discovering, it is poorly located and is made from fragile plastic. If you break the plug, you will be buying a new GM M10x1.50 torque converter bolt.

^^^^Fixed.

But seriously I have a aftermarket radiator, so I dont know what size the newer XJ's drain plug size is. When mine broke it just so happened a GM torque converter bolt was the same size.

Like others have said, use the lower hose. If you dont want to use the factory hose clamps, get some worm clamps.

[CJ7-Tim]

Originally Posted by JayBanion

I used the rad hose, mines in good shape, but I didnt wanna risk it leakin afterwards.

I have put new raditors in three 97-01 Cherokees and use the lower hose to service my 2000 cooling system. The stock hose clamps are fine and I have had no leaks yet.

[JayBanion]

I used the lower hose with my moms brand new tin foil turkey roasting pan as my catch pan, guess ill gettin her one of those before thursday draining from the rad hose it took a little less than 2 jugs of coolent to fill her back up. But with the new coolent in and new thermostat she hasnt touched 210 on the gauge yet

[ehall]

the plug is screwed in several full turns. it has a channel cut into it so coolant will start flowing before you get it all the way out, or you can take it all the way out if you want. the one on my 91 comes out no problem, and for some flushes I prefer to use the pet**** instead of the hose.

[the6nightmares]

Its not that bad, it has the plastic pet**** on the end. You can access it from underneath, I just grab it with a pair of needle nose and turn. I mistakenly pulled it all the way out when I drained my coolant the first time. PITA to get back in, but drains a lot better.