How to Drain a Radiator System
Instead of heading to your local car repair shop, you can do much of the maintenance yourself. The following tells how to drain your radiator system in a few easy steps. If you have driven the car recently, you should wait an hour or two before draining the radiator; materials underneath the hood of a car can get very hot. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Draining the Radiator
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1
Put on the gloves. Lift the hood of your car and locate the drain cock on your radiator. The drain cock will be a T-shaped device on one of the bottom corners of your radiator.
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2
Push the bucket underneath your car beneath the drain cock.
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3
With the pliers, use a twisting motion to loosen the drain cock. Once the drain cock twists easily on its own, you can continue to open it with your hand.
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4
When the drain cock is completely open, the coolant will begin to drain out of the radiator and into the bucket.
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5
Leave the bucket underneath the radiator until the coolant has finished draining.
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Tips & Warnings
After draining your radiator, you will probably want to flush the radiator system and refill it with coolant.
