Where is radiator drain plug on 05 Camry?

[mpq1969]

I'm trying to find the radiator/coolant drain plug on my 2005 4 Cyl. Camry and cannot seem to locate one. It is real tight down there so I can't get a good look at the underside but just assumed it should be at the bottom of the radiator somewhere. No plug seems to be there. Is it somewhere else? Thanks for any help.

[touringcamry]

It should be a white petcock located on the backside of the radiator. Open the hood and look down. The nozzle is right under that facing the ground. If you look up from the bottom, you should see a small opening in the metal or plastic plate under the radiator. I use slip joint pliers to turn the petcock.

If you want to keep things clean, get some 3/8" ID vinyl hose to slip over the nozzle to control the flow of liquid.

For the engine block, there's a nozzle towards the passenger side right under the exhaust manifold.

[mpq1969]

So there are two places that I need to drain?

[touringcamry]

You can drain only the radiator or both depending on how much fluid you want to exchange.

If you want to flush it out, you'll want to remove the thermostat and the upper hose also. Don't do this if you want to use the Toyota pink coolant though because you can't buy the concentrated form of it.

[mpq1969]

I was hoping to drain it all and then run a couple gallons of distilled water through prior to refilling.
Can I get it all with just the radiator drain plug (which I found, thank you)

[touringcamry]

If you do that, it'll take a while before you get all the old coolant out. I think if you drain the radiator, you get about 1 gallon or less out and the cooling system capacity is 7 to 8 quarts. So if you do one drain and refill the radiator only (assuming you have 50/50 mix to start) the coolant will be ~25%, then ~12.5%, then ~6.25%, etc. It'll be faster if you drain both the block and radiator, but I don't know how much fluid is contained in the block and radiator combined since some of that fluid is in the heater core also.

So after do the drain and refill of the block and radiator with distilled water twice, I would assume that percentage of coolant is fairly low -- less than 5%. At this point, I would just pour in the proper amount of coolant, approx 3.5 to 4 quarts for 50/50 and then pour in the water the rest of the way. Just remember to set the heater to high and to ensure that the thermostat opens up when you're running the distilled water.

If you want to use Toyota pink coolant and your car has pink coolant already, don't put any distilled water since you can only buy that coolant as 50/50 mix. Just drain the block and radiator, refill, and you're done.

[JohnGD]

You should not do that if using Toyota Pink. It's pre-mixed and you'll waste a lot before coming close to 50%-50%.

If there no problems with the cooling system just drain/refill should be good enough.

Originally Posted by mpq1969

I was hoping to drain it all and then run a couple gallons of distilled water through prior to refilling.
Can I get it all with just the radiator drain plug (which I found, thank you)

[carlo$]

goto my site to see pic of location.