JamesGS350

Hi guys, my 2013 F-sport AWD is hitting 100K miles. Had all the other fluids changed except coolant. I want to do this as well but not sure where the drain plug is located. Any idea? For those who have changed your coolant, appreciate any tips you have. Thanks.

waygreen

Backside of the radiator, off-center towards the passenger side.

There are two others on the block, one behind(ish) the alternator and one up top, I believe under the intake manifold.

Get a Chilton online. They're cheap and real handy

Good luck!

JamesGS350

Thanks for the reply. Did you have to remove any plastic covers to access and can you access it from the top or have to get under the car? Also, is it a petcock type drain plug? Thanks.

waygreen

Yeah, remove the splash guard. I don't really know what a petcock is. The plug is just a regular screw-in type plug. You don't have to remove the radiator to drain it or anything crazy.

thallium

I haven't dealt with the coolant on my GS yet but have on a Camry with similar V6. On the GS you'll have to remove the splash guard as the only opening in there I think is the little door for removing the oil filter however you might be able to reach through that and turn the petcock but I haven't inspected that myself yet.

You can drain each engine block drain, one on each bank of the engine but depending on access it might be difficult and a hassle. Some people just drain and fill the radiator each oil change and don't worry about draining the block. I'm still maintaining a Camry with about 118,000 miles and I think I'll start doing that. My GS is still not in need of it's first coolant change but I may consider doing this when it's time. On the Camry draining the radiator yields about 4 quarts and draining the block yielded about 3 more quarts which is about 7 of the 9.5 total coolant or 73%. GS would probably be similar but I show it has a 10.3 qt capacity.

Some general tips:

• Get a Lisle radiator fill funnel or similar. It will make filling a lot easier.
• You could flush with water to dillute the remaining coolant in the block so as to remove as much of the old coolant as possible but here's why you shouldn't do that. 1) you shouldn't put anything but distilled water in your car but even if you had disilled water you shouldn't for the next reason, 2) you will have a difficult time of ever getting the proper 50/50 mix again if you flush with water. It could be done I suppose but it will be a hassle and you'd also have to find full strength coolant. After filling and draining several times you'll be left with mostly water with a small amount of coolant so even if you have some full strength coolant how much do you add to achieve the 50/50 mix? How much water is left in the block and heater core? How can you find out? If you only ever add premixed coolant you'll never deviate from the proper mixture though you will spend more on coolant that you're just throwing away but in the long run it's better for your car.

richard203

iTrader: (1)

I think our car have bleeder valve that need to open too.

JamesGS350

I see it. Don't have to remove anything other than the panel for the oil filter; can easily reach over to unplug the petcock. Will get it done this weekend. Thank you!

thallium

Thanks. Good to know.

robd88

Are you referring to the radiator drain? Or one or both of the engine block drains?

bclexus

jkeller

This is one of those jobs that I would take the easy way out. Rather than flushing and block drain plugs, I would simply drain and refill the radiator. Then run it and repeat for a total of 3 or 4 times.

thallium

If my calculations are right, with a 10.3 qt capacity system, draining approx. 4 qts. from the radiator would yield 61% old coolant left each drain. Here is the table of how that would look after each change:

1. 61.2%
2. 37.4%
3. 22.9%
4. 14.0%
5. 8.6%
6. 5.2%
7. 3.2%
8. 2.0%
9. 1.2%
10. 0.7%

If you were able to get around 6-7 qts. out total by draining the block too, you could achieve the same thing in about 5 drains.

bclexus

It's my understanding that the cooling system has a capacity of 9.9 U.S. quarts. If each back-to-back drain-and-fill removed 4 quarts the following will be the percentage of new fresh coolant in the system:

1st Drain-and-Fill: 40.40%
2nd Drain-and-Fill: 64.48%
3rd Drain-and-Fill: 78.83%
4th Drain-and-Fill: 87.39%
5th Drain-and-Fill: 92.48%
6th Drain-and-Fill: 95.52%
7th Drain-and-Fill: 97.33%
8th Drain-and-Fill: 98.41%
9th Drain-and-Fill: 99.05%
10th Drain-and-Fill: 99.43%

Three or four drain-and-fills will accomplish ~80% replacement of old coolant with new fresh coolant, which should be more than adequate.

thallium

My manual for a 2013 RWD states 10.3 quarts coolant capacity so perhaps the AWD are 9.9? My table is stating the inverse of yours (remaining old coolant) and since you were basing it off of 9.9 they would differ a little so it looks like they pretty much agree

bclexus

9.9 quarts or 10.3 quarts - I don't know which is correct, but the difference is only .4 qts so it's rather insignificant.





Yes, we definitely pretty much agree based on our slightly different capacity and inverse percentage table.


See attachment (below) for a neat little Excel spreadsheet (ATF Drain-and-Fill Calculator) that can be used for transmission or coolant drain-and-fills to determine percentage of fluid replacement. (Cells C5 & C6 can be changed.)