radiator drain plug question

[zedsdead]

hey guys, my thermostat isnt opening at the right temp (i guess thats how you put it), so i went to get the necessary parts and all, and when i went to drain the coolant a bit, i noticed that my drain plug was broken, or snapped off sometime ago, the thing i cant understand is if the white plastic piece inside the plug is part of the plug or if its the thread that the plug goes into? i have flushed my coolant years ago, but i cant remember if i removed the whole plug or not, so i dont want to go drilling the plastic lining out if it needs to be there. im getting the new plug tomorrow morning so i can finish off the rest of the tstat install.

one more thing, what is the correct torque spec for the bolts that hold the tstat (cover to housing) in place?

thanks in advance guys,


z+

 

[Cobraguy]

When you get your new drain plug, it should be obvious what needs to be removed. Don't drill it out...use an easy out. It should come fairly easily. By the way, NAPA will (should) have the fitting on one of their small parts trees they have on the floor.

I have no idea what torque. It's a "common sense" measurement to me. But if you haven't done a lot of this, you are wise to get the right measurement.

 

[team]

if it has been broken off and is not leaking, i wouldn't mess with it. Since everything is plastic (the drain plug and the tank) you stand a good chance of screwing something up easily by trying to take it out. I would just pull the lower radiator hose and use it to drain and flush.

 

[beach]

I'm putting a new t-stat in today, I don't think their are torque specs, at least not in Haynes. Agree with above, usually I just have a good feel of how much to tighten.

 

[James909]

I'm putting a new t-stat in today, I don't think their are torque specs, at least not in Haynes. Agree with above, usually I just have a good feel of how much to tighten.

If you have the '91-'01 Haynes manual, in mine it's under chapter 3. The torque specs are as follows.

Thermostat housing bolts

4.0 OHV and 5.0 V8
12-18 ft-lbs

4.0 SOHC
78-92 in-lbs

 

[beach]

yeh just checked, for the 5.0 same as the ohv V6, 12-18

 

[beach]

ahh crap, can't find my torque wrenches . 12-18 isn't to much pressure, guess I'll just do it by hand.

 

[zedsdead]

hey guys, thanks for the replies, sorry its taken me so long to reply ( been a busy couple of weeks). well, the tstat, is a pain to get at, for me anyways. i was following the hayes manual, and i assumed mine was the same as the in the pic (just says 4.0L), but i think thats a OHV, mines a SOHC, that last bolt sucked, really. anyways, it was too cold outside to do more, so i actually did leave the broken bit inside the drain plug and did drain it eventually out of the lower rad hose. it isnt leaking and maybe when it gets warmer ill take the initiative to get it out, ill find out more on that 'easy out' stuff/ thing.

again thanks for the replies.

pce + happy holidays.

z+

 

[zedsdead]

i meant chiltons manual....

 

[fordktpjoe]

hey guys, thanks for the replies, sorry its taken me so long to reply ( been a busy couple of weeks). well, the tstat, is a pain to get at, for me anyways. i was following the hayes manual, and i assumed mine was the same as the in the pic (just says 4.0L), but i think thats a OHV, mines a SOHC, that last bolt sucked, really. anyways, it was too cold outside to do more, so i actually did leave the broken bit inside the drain plug and did drain it eventually out of the lower rad hose. it isnt leaking and maybe when it gets warmer ill take the initiative to get it out, ill find out more on that 'easy out' stuff/ thing.

again thanks for the replies.

pce + happy holidays.

z+

Whatever works...knowing there was a broken part on my truck would aggravate the living f**k outta me...I'd have fixed it while it was all apart.

Just my damned OCD again I guess.

 

[Dryrlynt]

Funny thing that I ran across this thread. I just flushed my radiator and went to tighten the drain plug when I accidently torqued it too hard and broke the head off of the drain plug head. Now, how do I go about repalcing this?

 

[Cobraguy]

No big problem. Go to NAPA, etc and buy a new drain plug for your application. They should all have one in stock. Once you have it, you can see how the old one comes out. You can still remove the old one with a broken head. Remove and replace. Be sure and use some silicone grease on the O-ring.

 

[rokr1292]

How do you remove one with a broken head? Do you use a screw remover/ easy out type thing? I've noticed the head of the plug seems to have an allen key/hex key hole in it, maybe with one of those?
accidentally sheared mine yestterday. In this hot weatther my water keeps boiling off, I got a bubble out yesterday, but I wanna put antifreeze back in anyway instead of new water.

 

[Cobraguy]

Try the hex head...then an easy out. hex head should do it. It's a common problem. Just make sure you grease up the o-ring well on the new one.