Alright, I feel like an idiot because this should be an easy job, but where's the coolant drain on these cars ('96 900SE)? I'm attempting to flush the coolant, but I don't know the best way to go about doing it, and searching came up empty on the actual procedure. Do people just remove a lower rad hose or is there an actual drain? I removed the bottom right plastic panel, possibly it's on the left side? Thanks.
Where's the coolant drain?
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This is one of the few times in your life that the owner's manual has the answer - look at the diagram on (I think) page 112 - on a LHD, the draincöck is on the driver's side, approximately L/R where the grill meets the headlight.
On a turbo, to get proper access too it, an intercooler pipe needs to be removed.
The plug can be loosened with either a 13mm deep well socket, or a 5mm (errr could be a 6mm) hex wrench.
the actual plug is made from the same injection molded Gouda as the manual transmission, so be careful.
Unless you completely remove the draincöck, the radiator takes approximately three days to drain.
However, note that there is a hole in the subframe, just below the draincöck, that is situated in such a way that if the plug falls into it, you are essentially Focked. Occasionally I receive nasty postcards from an ex-roommate's 13mm socket that currently resides in the subframe near said hole.
As the wise poster mentioned above, you can achieve nearly the same drainage by disconnecting the lower radiator hose (unless, of course, some previous mechanic connected the hose clamp in such a way that it is totally out of reach of any reasonable toolset, and sacrificing your roommate's 13mm socket to the SubFrame Gods doesn't help this at all).
I went through all of the above while doing a head re-torque and radiator flush at the same time. As it turned out, my coolant leak could almost certainly been solved by tightening the lower radiator hose clamp - it was only finger tight.
Still, I don't regret getting the peace of mind from a head re-torque, new lower hose, sodium citrate radiator flush, additional water flushes, and then fill with distilled water and Magic Mercedes Coolant.
After a new O2 sensor and muffler, the POKAR has never run bettter.
Note: edited to allow for the word draincöck to not appear as drain****. ****ADoodleDoo.
On a turbo, to get proper access too it, an intercooler pipe needs to be removed.
The plug can be loosened with either a 13mm deep well socket, or a 5mm (errr could be a 6mm) hex wrench.
the actual plug is made from the same injection molded Gouda as the manual transmission, so be careful.
Unless you completely remove the draincöck, the radiator takes approximately three days to drain.
However, note that there is a hole in the subframe, just below the draincöck, that is situated in such a way that if the plug falls into it, you are essentially Focked. Occasionally I receive nasty postcards from an ex-roommate's 13mm socket that currently resides in the subframe near said hole.
As the wise poster mentioned above, you can achieve nearly the same drainage by disconnecting the lower radiator hose (unless, of course, some previous mechanic connected the hose clamp in such a way that it is totally out of reach of any reasonable toolset, and sacrificing your roommate's 13mm socket to the SubFrame Gods doesn't help this at all).
I went through all of the above while doing a head re-torque and radiator flush at the same time. As it turned out, my coolant leak could almost certainly been solved by tightening the lower radiator hose clamp - it was only finger tight.
Still, I don't regret getting the peace of mind from a head re-torque, new lower hose, sodium citrate radiator flush, additional water flushes, and then fill with distilled water and Magic Mercedes Coolant.
After a new O2 sensor and muffler, the POKAR has never run bettter.
Note: edited to allow for the word draincöck to not appear as drain****. ****ADoodleDoo.
There are actually pairs of holes, top and bottom side of the front crossmember. Not easy to see, but with the airshields off, you can stick a couple fingers from the bottom all the way through. You can also insert a few magnets from a hardware store (the kind with a hole in the center), attached to something like a coat hanger wire, into the subframe, to retrieve small parts that might reside in said hollow space... :cheesy:bobdotorg said:
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