When did they quit putting drain plugs in radiators?

[Beagle]

Jim, if it did have the petcock, it would probably be plastic. The butterfly ears would snap off and throw themselves on the ground if you looked at it while holding a pair of gas pliers. You'd end up pulling the bottom hose anyway. Get some hose pliers to clamp it off and pull it at the pump when you plan to take the radiator out. It's probably easier to clean up the goo than it is to deal with the bad location of the petcock on some of GM's trucks (S10 comes to mind).

[SpiderGearsMan]

refill it with nice dexcool , now in mango flavor

[milner351]

Remember when Fords had ONE possible oil filter and all coolant was green and went in everything?
Your oil choices were by brand, and either 10-30 or 10-40?

and just WTF is up with coolant?
Do we really need 11dymillion different kinds all apparently infused with unobtanium making them cost a ridiculous amount?

[STINEY]

Remember when Fords had ONE possible oil filter and all coolant was green and went in everything?
Your oil choices were by brand, and either 10-30 or 10-40?

and just WTF is up with coolant?
Do we really need 11dymillion different kinds all apparently infused with unobtanium making them cost a ridiculous amount?

Ahhhh, the good old days.

I've been wondering the same thing on coolant. How much wrong would I be committing if I just started putting the green stuff in everything I own? (the newer cars - '05 Magnum, '02 Cavalier, '08 LQ4 Express)

Would the older green stuff commit hary-cary on these?

[milner351]

I know that you don't mix coolant in diesels with wet liners - for good reason - they need anti cavitation additives to keep the cylinder liners in good condition. (I've seen pinholes in liners - not pretty)

as for all the dexcool, orange, yellow, gold, coolants - it seems to be a material compatibility issue - some water pump, block, head, gasket, seal, materials don't play well with some chemicals in some coolants.

Honestly - for the daily drivers - I don't think I'd risk it - as much as it sucks to have 2,3,4,5,6 different kinds of coolant around - it sucks less than changing water pumps, head gaskets, or engines, because some whacko chemical reaction ate something important.

[TheSilverBuick]

Didn't DF write an article about how all the auto companies should get together and have a consensus and standarize a bunch of items to drop costs?

Air Filters - Square and Cone, then small, med, large.
Oil filters - small, med, large.
Fuel Pumps - Does there really need to be a bazillion different types?
Alternators - same deal, small, med, large.
etc.

If he didn't write an article, I know we had talked about it one year.