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Repair manual and coolant flush on a '97 Tracer

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    Repair manual and coolant flush on a '97 Tracer

    Hey guys, new to the forum, just found it. What repair manual do you guys recommend? I've done some basic maintenance on my wife's '97 tracer (plugs, wires, alternator) and am seeing some rust in here coolant. I purchased the Haynes manual a while back, but it is not very helpful with coolant draining. The valve in the radiator is easy enough to find, but where is the drain plug in the block? I can't find it for the life of me.

    Any help would be appreciated.

    #2
    not sure on that one but why not buy a 3 dollar flush tee and do it that way?
    mods: engine: fm stroker lightened and knifedged crank, 11:1, custom crank scraper, fully p&p head and intake mani, bored throttle body, flowed and matched stock injectors, rx7 vaf, apexi safc, gude race cams, modded ecu 8200 fuel cutoff, blaster coil, clutchmasters stage 3 clutch, fidanza fly wheel and timeing gears, msp diff, custom shortram in a cold air box

    suspension: s/r struts intrack springs and intrax sway bars 15x6.5 rims kumho mx tires 205 50 r 15

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      #3
      Originally posted by zubov View Post
      Hey guys, new to the forum, just found it. What repair manual do you guys recommend? I've done some basic maintenance on my wife's '97 tracer (plugs, wires, alternator) and am seeing some rust in here coolant. I purchased the Haynes manual a while back, but it is not very helpful with coolant draining. The valve in the radiator is easy enough to find, but where is the drain plug in the block? I can't find it for the life of me.

      Any help would be appreciated.
      Welcome to Club Protege.

      Haynes and Chiltons manuals are pretty basic and not always too helpful. The FSM(factory service manual) is the way to go.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by escortkid View Post
        not sure on that one but why not buy a 3 dollar flush tee and do it that way?
        What is a flush tee? I'm confused how anything could be easier to get the coolant out of the block other than me finding the drain plug which is created to do exactly that....

        Comment


          #5
          Just drain it from the radiator, if your doing a flush it will all make it's way through anyway. I asked on Escort forums where that plug was like 2 years ago and no one knew, I just got the answer of draining from the radiator.
          Not the sports page Not a magazine

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            #6
            I'd think the same thing, but even with the radiator all the way open and no more coolant draining, my overflow tank is half full. So I don't understand why it isn't draining. From what I can tell, the radiator drain port is the lowest point in the cooling system, there's no reason it shouldn't drain that I can see.

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              #7
              Originally posted by zubov View Post
              I'd think the same thing, but even with the radiator all the way open and no more coolant draining, my overflow tank is half full. So I don't understand why it isn't draining. From what I can tell, the radiator drain port is the lowest point in the cooling system, there's no reason it shouldn't drain that I can see.
              There is no way for all of the coolant in the block and head to drain when you are draining just the radiator.

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                #8
                Originally posted by Jho View Post
                There is no way for all of the coolant in the block and head to drain when you are draining just the radiator.
                yeah, but theres also (almost) no need

                a simple rad flush should do just fine. after your car is hooked up to the running garden hose, put the heat all the way on hot and run the car for a few minutes to flush everything out.

                buy some prestone detergent crap and run that through too. make sure its all the way rinsed out before you re-fill with your mix.
                Last edited by EricM; 11-14-2006, 07:50 AM.

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                  #9
                  put the heat on? Does my car actually have valves in the coolant system that block the heater core off from coolant?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    The only water outlets out of the engine I've ever heard of are the freeze plug outlets. Who in the world would want to go through the hassle of removing those? Even then, they are not at the bottom of the engine either. I've replaced the plugs before but only because they rusted and the water was escaping through them. I don't recall any car I've ever had having an outlet for the actual block to drain the coolant/antifreeze through. What the heck is that and are they usually a bolt like on the oil pan?

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by mannydingo View Post
                      The only water outlets out of the engine I've ever heard of are the freeze plug outlets. Who in the world would want to go through the hassle of removing those? Even then, they are not at the bottom of the engine either. I've replaced the plugs before but only because they rusted and the water was escaping through them. I don't recall any car I've ever had having an outlet for the actual block to drain the coolant/antifreeze through. What the heck is that and are they usually a bolt like on the oil pan?
                      Why would you drain coolant from the oil pan?

                      The BP has a bolt in the block, if you remove it, you will drain the coolant from the block. It is there to be a coolant supply to the turbo, but if you're N/A, it is capped.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Jho View Post
                        Why would you drain coolant from the oil pan?
                        Please, oh please tell me that's just a joke. If not, please read over the thread. I was asking if the way that an engine had it's coolant emptied out of the block was similar, in using just a bolt, to the way the oil is drained. Why would you see that sentence as me saying I'd be draining coolant from the oil pan? Anyway, thanks for providing me with this info of where the coolant drains from on the BP. I no longer have a Proty with a BP(now the Z). Where the heck is it located on the BP?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by mannydingo View Post
                          Please, oh please tell me that's just a joke. If not, please read over the thread. I was asking if the way that an engine had it's coolant emptied out of the block was similar, in using just a bolt, to the way the oil is drained. Why would you see that sentence as me saying I'd be draining coolant from the oil pan? Anyway, thanks for providing me with this info of where the coolant drains from on the BP. I no longer have a Proty with a BP(now the Z). Where the heck is it located on the BP?
                          I guess I misunderstood your last sentence. It could be taken either way, but it's not worth arguing about.

                          It's underneath the exhaust manifold, to the right a little, right next to the oil feed. Both are capped unless you need them for a turbo.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Jho View Post

                            It's underneath the exhaust manifold, to the right a little, right next to the oil feed. Both are capped unless you need them for a turbo.
                            Crap, all the times I've been over and under my cars doing different things to them and I never even thought about a coolant outlet for the block.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Jho View Post
                              It's underneath the exhaust manifold, to the right a little, right next to the oil feed. Both are capped unless you need them for a turbo.
                              I will have to look for this, thanks for the clarification on why it's there.

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