Steven54

Does anyone have an experience with the two engine block coolant drain plugs on an ES 330? I want to know if there is risk of breaking one off when I attempt to open them after years of not being opened. Do I get enough coolant out of them to go to the effort (or risk) of opening them? The risk I suspect is due to rust (Ohio vehicle) and to the chance of snapping something off. What do I do to open them without breaking anything, and thus making a bigger problem than just having old coolant that needs to be replaced. Thanks

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I used to not be concerned about this issue but my recent experience taught me to be extra careful with old coolant drain plugs on the engine. The ES330 may have a different design than the 1MZFE on the ES300 so your mileage may vary.

The rear engine drain plug stripped out on me even though I’ve used it a few times before over the years. I had to tow the car to my mechanic and get a new bolt. He said the threads inside the engine adapter were badly damaged so he lightly threaded the bolt in and added sealant to keep it in place. It’s been holding well for 6 months but a proper fix would be to replace about $500 worth of EGR parts around the rear exhaust manifold.

Now for reference, this rear plug is very unusual in that it’s made out of aluminum and it threads into the EGR cooler.

I’ve noticed that on 2007+ V6 engines (2GR-FE) Toyota went to a different drain plug design. It’s modular and more robust like the front one.

If you tackle this job, I would recommend to clean the threads of the plug with a wire brush and add penetrating fluid before you break it loose. In my experience, opening the radiator and either one of the engine plugs is enough to get 90% of the coolant out. The 2nd engine plug is not worth messing with. So find the one that’s easiest to reach on your car.

Also, keep in mind most mechanics only touch the radiator plug for this very reason. So you can always just do that if the coolant is in good shape. The radiator drains about 50-60% of the fluid.

Steven54

Thanks, Hayk, for the quick reply and sharing your experience. It helps me to know how to proceed. I will just drain the radiator and flush it once using coolant instead of distilled water so that there is no dilution of coolant strength. I got one extra jug of coolant really cheap yesterday (on sale at AAP). This should be much cheaper than a broken plug and a tow to a mechanic.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Just make sure you’re using the proper color. It should be Pink.