whopper

Ok, I am about to change the coolant on my 2.4L and cannot find a drain valve anywhere on that rad or on the motor. What are we supposed to do, just pop a hose and drop the coolant on the ground?

Any tips would be much appreciated.

an08HHR

I'll just say the schedule for it is every 5 yrs or 150,000 miles. You got that many miles on it? and if it did I would let someone do it that has the equip to back flush the system.

ChevyMgr

Drain **** is on the lower passenger (right) side of the vehicle. Be advised these are CHEAP. A lot of times you have to replace with a new one after removal. Most techs use the lower radiator hose.



Also as an08HHR states these vehicles come with 150,000 mile coolant.


LMAO C-O-C-K was censured.

HHorange

While the drain maybe hard to see its actually not that hard to reach from under the car. Just reach up on the right side and feel down the edge of the rad. tank. Just did mine a week ago to change the thermostat....

oneton

Was the thermostat bad? or & I hope you did not lower the temp.

whopper

Many thanks ChevyMgr - Danged if I didn't miss it tucked in behind and below the expantion tank - I can even reach it (tho' a tight fit) from the top.


The reason for dropping the coolant is to change out the thermostat which sticks open intermittantly.

Once again, many thanks.

Tom

TomsHHR

See if your dealer will change it under warranty, mine did and I was out of warranty. I was pleasantly suprised I had planned on it costing me for the repair. Never hurts to ask.

HHorange

Sorry, I should have mentioned earlier that the plug is not secured. When it is unscrewed it will want to fly out of your hand if you are not holding it tight.....Don't ask.

Yes, I had the common bad thermostat. When and why did GM decide they needed rubber seals in the stat itself, not just to seal the housing. What seems to fail is the rubber comes loose and blocks the seat, keeping the stat slightly open.

whopper

I went the dealer route earlier - they wanted $350 to change the thermostat out, and this was after charging ~$80 to "diagnose" the condition (the temp gauge had stopped working and DIC display showed "----", and I took it in asking they check on the thermostat, as I was suspecting it was stuck open - and I was right). Total bill would have been in excess of $430 - just to change the thermostat!!!! That was a bit more than excessive I thought, so they lost my business.

but thanks for the suggestion :)

whopper

What sometimes has worked for me when taking out the drain plug, is to leave the rad cap (or whatever) in-place - this creates a vacuum to slow the flow of coolant out of the rad - it may help in this case.

Good tip on verifying the gasket is on properly etc. before installing it, and to be extra careful when putting it in place. I'm anxious to see what my old one looks like.

thanks