Need help draining coolant

[MAXISTYLES]

I’m trying to locate the cylinder block drain plug on the driver side and I can’t seem to find it. I even have the repair manual diagram which shows where one is for a 2010 but my is a 2013. Did anything change for 2013? Can someone post a pic please?

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

Pull the lower hose, you'll get the majority of it out. You don't need to get every drop out of everywhere.

 

[MAXISTYLES]

Pull the lower hose, you'll get the majority of it out. You don't need to get every drop out of everywhere.

Thanks but I’m kinda of a nerd when it comes to this and like to mostly do it by the book so I used the drain plug on the bottom of radiator. I didn’t even have to pull the skid just attached a 15” clear hose to the plug and drained it into a bucket.

 

[MossJenks]

Looking through the driver side wheel well it's just behind the shock tower and over the frame rail. It's brass so it'll have a faintly gold color to it and a round "button" on the head. Kinda hard to reach - I pull the driver side wheel off (don't need to on the passenger side) then use a long extension with wobble. I think I use my 10" wobble extension on the socket then a 3" extension or two attached to that. See pic. Shock tower takes up the left third of this picture with the frame rail at the bottom.

 

[MAXISTYLES]

So looks like there isn’t a block drain plug on driver side on 2013 looks like a factory screw in that spot without a spout like on the passenger side.

Few other things. If you open the cap on the overfill container and not the radiator when draining, the the container will empty out and you won’t have to siphon it out. Secondly, I didn’t have to drop the skid, I just attached a 15” clear hose to the drain plug on the radiator and fitted through a hole in the skid (looks like the hole is there specially for that). I’ve read online that some don’t bother with the engine block plug because not much comes out. Well, I definitely recommend draining that plug, I drained over a half gallon from there.

 

[MAXISTYLES]

Looking through the driver side wheel well it's just behind the shock tower and over the frame rail. It's brass so it'll have a faintly gold color to it and a round "button" on the head. Kinda hard to reach - I pull the driver side wheel off (don't need to on the passenger side) then use a long extension with wobble. I think I use my 10" wobble extension on the socket then a 3" extension or two attached to that. See pic. Shock tower takes up the left third of this picture with the frame rail at the bottom.

Thanks for the pic. If you look at my pic (2013) there is a factory screw where you have the drain plug. Looks like Toyota changed the design slightly. It has to be factory since I’ve had this truck since new and have done all the maintenance myself.

 

[wfo9]

Using a little common sense...
They did not change the design. they just changed the drain to a bolt. Probably to save a few pennies. The block is the same for sure.

 

[BobsTrail]

I'm planning on doing this and these posts really helped. I have 2 gallons of Toyota Super Long Life and a rainy day outside. Looks like a good day to do it.
Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[MossJenks]

Yeah, I knew they had eliminated that one at some point but I was thinking they did that later. Definitely worth draining from whatever block drains you have - especially if doing a simple dump and fill. If you do an intermediate step - dump it, fill it with water, drive around a bit then dump again and fill with antifreeze/water mixture - it's probably not as important.

 

[MAXISTYLES]

Using a little common sense...
They did not change the design. they just changed the drain to a bolt. Probably to save a few pennies. The block is the same for sure.

Using common sense tells me that Toyota figured the drain on the passenger side drains the block sufficiently enough therefore no need to have one on the drivers side. That’s what I meant by changing the design.

 

[MAXISTYLES]

Yeah, I knew they had eliminated that one at some point but I was thinking they did that later. Definitely worth draining from whatever block drains you have - especially if doing a simple dump and fill. If you do an intermediate step - dump it, fill it with water, drive around a bit then dump again and fill with antifreeze/water mixture - it's probably not as important.

I chose not to do the flush that you’re talking about because if you introduce plain or distilled water to the system I feel like you will never have a true 50/50 mix like recommended.

 

[BobsTrail]

Changed mine today and replaced the lower radiator hose while I was in there. The clamp to the body slowed me down.

 

[Randyman...]

Using common sense tells me that Toyota figured the drain on the passenger side drains the block sufficiently enough therefore no need to have one on the drivers side. That’s what I meant by changing the design.

Just drained/filled my 2013. Passenger side draincock and radiator drain cock got most of the coolant out (1 1/3 gallons or so). And MUCH easier to get to than anything I could imagine on the driver's side!

Agreed - I'd never flush with water. No way to get all of that crap out. Use 50/50 premix (uses distilled water) and sleep like a baby knowing you aren't causing corrosion from the inside out...

I did pull my overflow bottle and cleaned/dried the snot out of it (was a little dirty - mainly outside ). Looks like new...

 

[mountainair26]

Do you happen to still have the pictures of the 2010 drain plugs? I'm attempting to do a complete (as much as possible) coolant flush on a 130k 2010 v6 SR5 and can't seem to find the repair manual PDF anywhere. Is there a way to really flush out the system well, even if it involves that cheap prestone flush kit that suggests cutting hoses? I flushed the radiator with distilled water about 5-6 times, ran the engine with the heater on for about ten mins in between flushes until it came out almost clear. It's got a bottle of thermocure in there and distilled water after the flushes. I want to get as much of the fluid out now before flushing again with distilled and refilling with pink coolant. Any tips appreciated.

 

[mountainair26]

By pulling the lower house, does it drain the engine block as well? Could this be used as a point for flushing the engine with water under pressure throughout the whole system to flush out as much as possible? Thanks

 

[mountainair26]

I used the petcock on the passenger side to drain only the radiator, then refilled with distilled until the drainage became only lightly pink, then added distilled and thermocure. If there a drain location as easily accessible as the petcock? I didn't even remove the skid plate (just used a large drain pan to compensate), or jack/life it. But I'm not exactly sure how much fluid is being flushed from the engine block, heater cores, other areas than just the radiator alone.

 

[Nick B]

Tagged for later reference.

 

[Lester Lugnut]

Yes - the typical engine block drain spout was eliminated in 2013 and access to the replacement "bolt" is no fun. If you did manage to get the bolt out, you might be challenged getting it back in.

Passenger side drain spout much easier to access.

Draining the radiator, emptying the overflow jug and draining the passenger side block on my wife's 2014 removed 9 qts. of coolant. Owners manual says system holds 11.1 qts. Didn't get it all, but I'll live with it.

For me, the coolant gets drained/refilled every 3 yrs, vs. Toyota's 5 yr. recommendation. Choose your own change interval.

 

[1000MPH]

Are there any special burping procedures on the 5th Gen? I've got a Lisle kit but I'm not sure if there's a spot other than the radiator cap to use it.

 

[MAXISTYLES]

Burping

Are there any special burping procedures on the 5th Gen? I've got a Lisle kit but I'm not sure if there's a spot other than the radiator cap to use it.

Instructions call to "Press the No.1 and No. 2 Radiator hoses several times by hand to bleed air while warming up the engine".

"The thermostat opening timing can be confirmed by pressing the no. 2 radiator hose and checking when the coolant starts to flow".