Tricks for draining radiator?
 

Hi all,

I have been working on doing preventative maintenance to my sons 2001 disco 2. I have an Extinct thermostat mod kit to go in, and I want to do a coolant drain and fill as a baseline. We also have one of the ultraguages that will go in to monitor coolant temperatures, since from reading your posts, it seems like overheating is one of the biggest enemies of this engine.

I've poked around and everyone says just remove the lower radiator hose. Easy peasy.

In my mind, I thought this would be easy (like on my land cruiser), just grab a 5 gallon bucket and put it underneath, undo the hose and guide most of the mess into to the bucket.

However, when I get under the disco, I see that the hose is pretty far up in the engine cavity and there are all kinds of suspension parts in the way.

If I imagine what will happen with me laying under the disco when I remove that hose: coolant gushing out, hitting stuff and splashing everywhere, including all over me, until I can get myself out from underneath.

Are there any more clever ways of doing this so I don't get a OAT shower and make a complete mess of the garage floor?

We've got several dogs, and they are drawn to the sweetness of coolant, and it can kill them (a good friend lost a puppy this way), so I really want to minimize the amount that gets away from me.

Thanks in advance for anything you would be willing to share!

I think it’s a little messy anyway but you can use a piece of sheet metal or plastic to help divert most of the coolant into your bucket.

I bought a little 5 dollar hard plastic kiddie pool to catch the coolant. Works good to contain the mess if you have somewhere to keep it when not in use.

I make a little ramp around the lower hoses on the passenger side and help guide it into my bucket. It's not perfect but it helps a lot.

Get whatever brand you want but i like using a fluid extractor to keep the mess to a minimum and if you already have an air compressor the mityvac mv7300 works great!

I’ve tried a bunch of things and have just accepted I’m polluting the earth when I drain the system.

Looks like a good product. Can you get into the oil sump with it?

Thanks for all the ideas everyone. I'm going to use the cardboard idea to see if I can channel more of it into my bucket. And maybe even the kiddie pool idea too, if I can find one cheap. I'll report back once I get a chance to try it. Thank you!

Take out bottom hose and let it go. Get a garden hose and flush out everything radiator block heater core. Get that nozzle in there and flush it good