I loosing a tonne of coolant from the drain plug. It was literally pouring out today. Its a little better with teflon tape on the thread, but still isn't sealed. The parts store's Toyota radiator drain plug doesn't fit- its too loose. I think it might be a non-OEM rad, is there any identifying features or markings to the OEM rad?

 

Loose drain plug? Are you using the plug that came with the radiator?

Always use liquid teflon. It will seal the threads on the drain plug and it also works on hydraulic hose connections that do not use an o-ring.

Liquid teflon is stocked at most part stores and dealerships.

 

Toyota radiators use a petcock not a drain plug

 

Do you have some pics of your radiator?

 

Sounds like you lost or broke the o-ring

 

Toyota rads say Toyota on them, my old oem one had toyota stamped on it on the far drivers side of the top of the rad (pointing towards the driver).

Does the drain look like this?

 

Yeah, but rad looks the same as Jay's. Thanks for posting that up Jay. I've ordered the OEM rad plug and O ring. How would the liquid teflon work with that? I used teflon tape to lessen the extent of the leak.

 

My napa radiator has a drain petcock and I don't recall an o-ring. I did this 4 years ago. I do remember applying a liberal amount of liquid teflon to the threads and it has never leaked since. Liquid teflon seals way better than the tape. Give it a try.

 

I seem to drain and refill my rad on a frequent basis. Is liquid teflon going to cause the drain to be stuck closed?

Bought the drain plug from Toyota today, see if that works. It needs an O ring.

 

No worries, it doesn't harden. Just coat the threads on the drain plug and screw it in.

 

My O-ring was shot. I don't know how I didn't notice that earlier. I didn't need a new drain plug after all- just the O-ring, I also gave the plug on wrap of teflon tape just in case. Now I won't have to top up the overflow tank every couple weeks. The O-ring cost me $4.

 

Man I never use those drain plugs. If you by chance wreck any part of it, your screwed.
Save yourself the nightmare. If your gonna drain the coolant just pull the lower rad hose off and let it gush into a drain pan.
On my wagon, my drain started leaking. I used some glue I found at work and I glued it back in there.

Does anybody have a fix for these when the threads go? The only one I've found is purchasing a new rad.

 

There's not much that can go wrong with the drain plug unless you strip the threads. The O-ring is the only wearable part it appears. I'm pretty sure you could temporarily fix the leak with RTV.

 

I'm one of those that needs a new one. Oring was gone, didn't know about it. It's so old, the plastic snapped when i reinstalled. Leaking and the plastic core is still in the radiator. Will have to carefully drill out and use an easy out after buying a new one from Toyota.

 

Yup, the whole point of the o-ring is that you don't tighten it, you just "close" it. Something like 1 inch-lb torque would do it.

Rather than drill and extract, consider picking up a few left-hand drill bits. http://www.harborfreight.com/left-ha...-pc-61686.html Since you're drilling out a piece of nylon that isn't really stuck (yet), it will probably zip right out as soon as you touch it with the left-hand bit. If you drill first with a right-hand bit, you're just forcing it farther in.