Where are the coolant cylinder drain plugs? (1997)?

[xr333]

I inherited my dad's 1997 Grand Marquis with only 33K miles, plus the official Ford service manual. I don't have any maintenance records, so I thought I'd play it safe and change all of the fluids. To change the coolant, the service manual says to drain the radiator, and then to "remove the cylinder block drain plugs". As far as I can tell, there's no drawing anywhere that tells me where drain plugs are and what (if anything) I have to remove to get to them. Can someone who knows please tell me how to find the drain plugs and how to remove them?

Thanks.
Walt

[mercenvy]

I hope this doesn't come across harsh...but I think you need to find a different manual. I would only remove the "cylinder block drain plugs" if I was removing the engine from the car.
You can change/remove the coolant without removing the freeze plugs. The Haynes manual covers this pretty well, and it's only $15-20.
There is a petcock on the bottom of the radiator. Drain the fluid, and then flush it out with a garden hose. They even make attachments that tap into your current plumbing and allow you to hook a garden hose up directly to your motor to flush the cooling system. Unless you are seeing leaks from the plugs themselves or something I do not see the need(nor the PITA factor) in changing your freeze plugs with the engine in the car.

[Fst Mrc]

definately. I'm with him. If you're worried about any type of buildup in there, just pick up some radiator flush from the local store and follow the instructions. That stuff works pretty good nowdays.

[BMFer]

The manual is not referring to freeze plugs.

There is a single drain plug in the block, on the driver side near the rear. It's a little hard to see, but it's there.

[Fst Mrc]

sorry, ha! I guess I'll just stay in the 5.0 area before I lead anyone else astray.

[xr333]

Checking other manuals is a good idea and I'll try my library for that. As BMFer stated, the official Ford manual isn't talking about freeze plugs, but rthreaded removable cylinder block plugs that are in the block specifically for draining the coolant.

My town has very hard well water and I don't want to put it in my car.

Walt.

[mercenvy]

The manual is not referring to freeze plugs.

There is a single drain plug in the block, on the driver side near the rear. It's a little hard to see, but it's there.

Well you learn something new every day...

He used the word in its plural sense(plugS) so I thought he was talking about freeze plugS.

I had no idea about the drain pluG...since it can be flushed out with the water pump anyway. Yes I run the motor to flush it out completely. So sue me.
Most people use distilled water with their coolant.
And I don't think I led anyone "astray" as some put it...just a misunderstanding of terms.
Don't worry, after I pull my motor I will take a pic of it. Then when I reinstall it, I'll put a petcock on it with a drain tube to make it easier to drain.:p

[p71towny]

Are you sure its not an oil passage tap? I've seen em on other engines and I thought I knew my towncar very intimately but I guess not.

[BMFer]

Are you sure its not an oil passage tap? I've seen em on other engines and I thought I knew my towncar very intimately but I guess not.

Uhm, yes. I am sure.

Do I act like someone who posts something I'm not sure about?

[mercenvy]

Do I act like someone who posts something I'm not sure about?

Not in my experience...

[merc6]

4v have that plug too? I used the shops machine to do mine.

[mercenvy]

I was always told that that plug was to let some of the sand out after the block is cast...looks like they were wrong..lol

[p71towny]

There's truth to that statement.