How to drain coolant

Hey guys I know this might be a super-noob question but I was wondering how to drain the coolant out or flush the coolant out of the radiator? I've seen a few videos on YouTube showing just a drain bolt on the bottom of the radiator where you can drain it and fill it back up. I would just like to do this sometime soon cause I knows it good to do every know and then. I was wondering if it's that simple with our p5 or not?

On the bottom of the back side of the radiator (near the center I belive) you should see a white plug. Just unscrew that and out it flows....

yup

I wanna say that only half or so of the total will come out when you pull the plug. The rest is in the engine still. I tend to add water temporarily and go on a short trip, cool and drop it again, refill and repeat a trip, before I finally add new 100% concentrated antifreeze. I add half the capacity - like a gallon - to make sure it's strong enough and top off with water. The bulk of the water comes from the stuff in the engine.

Anyone else weigh in on this? I know my old RX-7s had drain plugs on the engine itself to help with this. Or maybe you could install a reverse flush kit where you hook a garden hose up to a heater hose.

Also remember - if you need any hose or thermostat work, this is the time to do it.

RABID_MP5 said:

I wanna say that only half or so of the total will come out when you pull the plug. The rest is in the engine still. I tend to add water temporarily and go on a short trip, cool and drop it again, refill and repeat a trip

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Wouldn't letting it idle for a minute or two do the same thing? I don't know for sure, but judging by the diameter of the hoses, it seems like that should be more than enough time to circulate all the fluid through the system a couple of times.

pasadena_commut said:

Wouldn't letting it idle for a minute or two do the same thing? I don't know for sure, but judging by the diameter of the hoses, it seems like that should be more than enough time to circulate all the fluid through the system a couple of times.

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This is what I did. Emptied, refilled with distilled water. Ran it for a few minutes. Repeat. Fill with the appropriate mixture of coolant and water. I would also consider replacing your Tstat...it's quick, easy and important if it goes bad.