alright, we went to do a coolant flush and when we went to drain it the first time, it drained less than a gallon
by the way, my car has ran fine before all this
then we put water in it and watched it run out so really, i guess nothing is coming out of the block
we then tried to free it with zerex flush (valvoline product) and we did that and it ran fine, idled fine, temp stayed right at 180 pretty much
we then tried to drain again and it still is only draining not even a gallon
we were thinking maybe a stuck thermostat in the closed position but we don't know for sure
also, maybe it was something knocked loose and now it's clogged up but...we just can't explain why it wouldn't drain when we went to do it the first time, with it previously running fine
it was getting too late to do anything else and we couldnt see sh**

if anybody can help, please do
i'm taking off work tomorrow to get this stupid thing taken care of

 

pullling the thermostat isn't that difficult, that's what I would do first.

 

where did you try and drain it from?

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#radflush

You may find that link helpfull

 

In my opinion, you should remove the block drains[one each side, one is the 'knock sensor'].. you get a lot more out that way..
I was surprised how little coolant drains out from just the radiator..

 

More coolant comes out of the radiator if you open the bleed screws. I think about 1 gallon should come out.

Patrick

 

yea, we opened the bleeder valves and more came out
it still seems short of 4 gallons though
also, when we went to pull the block drain plug, nothing came out
why would that be?
so we had a heck of time getting it back on too so we decided to not remove the knock sensor (other block drain plug) because it would've been even harder to get in or out

so in the end, we just put more 50/50 mix in and warmed it up to about 210 and turned off, let cool, added more, and i'm about ready to check it again in a little while (it's cooling right now)

but really, why wouldn't all 4 gallons come out (15.3 qts is about 4 gallons, and it didn't seem like it all came out, but, i suppose it might've)
and do you have to undo the block drain plug and knock sensor + the radiator drain plug each time you change coolant?
thanks for the help already guys

 

so far it's only taken 2 gallons of the 50/50 mix
you think it might be air pockets in the system?
would that cause a sudden rise and decrease in temperature?

 

Probably crust or sediment in the block drain hole. You should have poked it out to get it to drain. You can't get all the fluid out with just the radiator drain.

 

Taking out the knock sensor not hard at all. Just get an open end wrench and spin it off. Pretty easy. Alot easier then the other block drain.

 

so you're saying i have to take these (ks and block drain plug) off each time it's drained?
i guess i can do that
but, either way, i think i have to flush and drain it again....
i think my uncle said something about a small leak he saw before and i totally forgot when i was changing it
is it alright to jack it up when getting out the ks and block plug?
we had to to even get to them, much less having a hard time putting the block drain plug in
thanks for all the helps guys

and firehawk409, the ks looked pretty far back in there...guess i might have to look again

o, and one last thing, thanks shoebox for your site man
it really helps when you got pictures, a walkthru and everything

 

Well there is[sounds like] a lot of sediment in the block if it didn't drain?
I know I used to open the boat block drains[350 chevy, and the boats[salt water cooled] get a LOT of sediment in there fast] and then poke a thin screwdriver, etc. into the hole... that lets the 'torrent' loose..
Yours is probably stopped up too the same way..
I would do that [both block drains then radiator drain..] to get all the coolant /sediment out, and flush it that way, too..

 

You know what i just remembered something. I had my y pipe off so that might have had to do something with it. My car has been on stands for so long with the y pipe off i guess i just got used to it being like that. So maybe with the ypipe on it could be a pain in the butt.

 

yea we didn't try the knock sensor but the block drain plug was a definate pain with the y-pipe in there
it made you sort of have to cockeye the plug trying to get it back in
i for one, am not looking forward to doing it again