I need to refresh the coolant in the 2000 XK8. Rather than take the whole front end of the car off I thought I would just ask. Where is the @#$* radiator drain for this car???

Thanks guys for understanding.

 

I used this procedure to do my '97.

 

It's at the bottom RH corner facing towards the engine:



A black plastic plug in a black plastic radiator so not the easiest thing to spot. You'll only get to it from beneath the vehicle.

Graham

 

And when you do open it the coolant pours out on the frame and is distributed everywhere. Every time I say I'm going to put in a petcock with a drain tube, but I never get around to it.

 

Ganna bet your radiator hoses are orig? May be a good time to replace them which will drain her for ya!

 

The drain pug is not very accessible. I used a long flat head screwdriver to reach it. The plug was tethered on mine.

 

Remove the plastic guard that ties into the Radiator support first. It makes the plug easier to spot on the lower right side of the tank. It sits flush with the tank and you can get at it with a long flat blade screwdriver. I backed the plug off a couple of turns and that was enough to drain the coolant. It looks pretty near impossible to get your hands up in there if the plug came all the way out.

 

It IS accessible from the top. Figure out where it is from below, then reach down to it with a large washer or U.S. quarter Dollar in your hand as a tool to loosen the plug. The slot orientation allows you to make 1/4 turns without dropping your tool. A cat litter box (without the litter) makes a good catch pan for this job. Make sure that the seal on the plug is good before you put the coolant back in, or you will get to find that plug again.

 

This is fantastic.

I need to flush the coolant system. Before I saw this old thread, I assumed I couldn't reach down between the air box and the radiator hose because it seemed much too small for my arm. Went out and just quickly stuck my hand down there from the top, on to the plug (only cutting off a bit of circulation, not enough to prevent access to the plug). Will speed things up.

 

FWIW, i'd say use your best judgement on this. Plastic plug on a plastic end tank, "nicely" heat cycled, on the hot side. If it doesn't come right off, use another plan. Once removed, the coolant splashes everywhere anyway from that location. There are apparently block drains somewhere even lower, but they make a mess too. There is a surprisingly high amount of coolant that can be removed from the expansion tank with a turkey baster, and, once the tank is removed, even more can be cleanly removed through the octopus hose. Enough for heater or thermostat work.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Remove the box....?

 

Thanks, previous owner mixed coolant. Need to get all of it out to be sure.

 

Yes, but no need. Can stick one's arm in there without removing anything (save, perhaps, short powerlifters). As a bonus, none of mine have the additional alternator inlet thingy, so I can splash away.

 

Then I would look at the engine drain too. It is the lowest point in the system, I believe. I would also do a separate flush of the heater core by disconnecting the supply and return hoses. No sense in bringing any of the mixed stuff back into circulation. Might want to open the thermostat too.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Appreciate it. I had good luck today, once I used the appropriate tool reaching from above (arm between the air box and heater hose). The big 'tool' on the the left was the useful one (large thick brass washer), not the first one I tried, the little one to the right. The plug came out 'easily' in the sense that it came out without breaking. I could not open it with the US quarter from the top. But the thick brass washer gave more leverage, and I didn't get under the car at all. Drain, water, run for 10 minutes, drain, distilled water/radiator flush for four hours running/driving, drain, distilled water, run for 10 minutes, drain, distilled water, run for 10 minutes, drain, concentrated coolant, run for 10 minutes, drain, coolant, . I probably would have left the flush for a few days if it wasn't going down to -4 C (25 F) tonight and tomorrow night.

But, I had replaced a large fraction of the coolant during the 'leaky' time and when I did the new thermostat stack/crossover/valley hoses. So what remained of the original mixed crap was apparently almost nothing, and the flush was unremarkable, even for often unremarkable aluminum systems. Appreciate all the help.

Good tool to the left, bad tool to the right. There's probably an even bigger thick washer that would be even better.


Can't come inside while you're leaky...

 

I used a quarter, but i also did it from below and was laying on the ground to do it.

 

I would change the petcock. It's costs something like $3 and it is stocked in Advanced Auto and Pep Boys. Rockauto has it too: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...=12518&jsn=257

You can look it up as the Dorman 61138 Radiator Drain Petcock.

 

Next time...

 

I might have been able to do it with heavier gloves, just wearing nitrile. But on my way down to get heavier gloves, the washer sitting on the bench glistened and called out. It was the 'edge finger pain/torque ratio' that got me, large with the quarter, small with the washer. 'Sitting in meetings all day' hands.

 

When replacing the main input and return hoses, I placed a long-necked funnel underneath the connection points on the radiator and caught the fluid in a pan below when sliding back the hose. Lost very little fluid and saved me having to deal with the drain screw.