So I'm underneath the car trying to drain the coolant from the engine using the two drain plugs. I got the driver's side one off okay but the other plug seems to have a sensor mounted on it that is in the way. Two questions:

1) How do you remove the drain plug without destroying the sensor deal? Do you just get an open ended wrench and take it off that way or can you remove the actual sensor mount thing to get to it directly?

2) What sensor is this? The coolant temp sensor?


I don't want to pry the thing off until I know what it is and if there's another way to do it. Thanks in advance!

 

1.) The sensor acts as the drain plug. You can use a wrench or a ratchet and socket. There should be a six point thing on it that a socket or wrench will fit. It is kind of big, though. When you unscrew the sensor, the coolant will come out.

2.) That sensor is the knock sensor. The wire will come off if you squeeze on the plastic piece and then pull it off.

You don't have to remove both drain plugs. Just unscrewing one should be enough to drain all the coolant from the engine.

 

Thanks a lot, that makes sense. Like I said, I really didn't want to start reefin' on it until I knew that was the way to remove it. I'll be finishing up tomorrow after work.

One other question since you seem to have a pretty good hande on this stuff: is there a way to bypass the heater core on our cars? Mine's shot for the second time in a year and a half and I don't really mind not having any heat. I don't want to use that Bar's leak-filler stuff since I'm putting in a new rad, but if I can bypass it somehow by rerouting hoses that would be great. Thanks again for the help!

 

Easiest short term solution is to go to Autozone or it's equivalent, and get a "heater by-pass fitting". It's a small plastic tube about 3 inches long that has a 5/8 inch male fitting on one end and a 3/4 on the other. Then just unplug the 2 heater hoses where they go into the firewall and plug them onto this fitting instead. That way you can easily hook the heater back up if you decide to put in a new one later on. Cost is like $5.

Have a Great day!!!



- Vern