Draining the coolant on Citroen D Super 5

[ImMark]

Does anyone here know where the coolant drain tap on a DX4 engine block is?
I can only find my 1955 - 1966 manual and it just mentions opening the "drain tap".
No clue as to where it is though.

I put some modern anti-freeze in it a while ago as a stop gap - but forgot to flush it all out again.
18 months of sitting there and this did not end well.

The engine is still in the car, the old pump is off and radiator and heater are all off and flushed.
Really I want to give the block a good flush as well before putting it back together.

Or would it be an idea to pull out a core plug? Assuming there is one I can get to.

thanks

[benjj]

There is a drain valve at the bottom right of the radiator (when looking at it from the engine - as in forwards).

Can be seen on this pic, bottom right. It has a little metal bar running through it to twist.



However, I was always advised to just pop off the top and bottom hoses as the drain plug can snap off if it's corroded.

[benjj]

D'uh. Just read your post properly. Soz

Yep, pull a core plug.

[52classic]

Pull a core plug? Surely not! What's wrong with just taking off the T & B Hoses?

[52classic]

I have also just re-read the OP and was being a bit hasty in reply - sorry. Still wondering what harm a modern anti-freeze has caused though.

[TooMany2cvs]

52classic said:

Still wondering what harm a modern anti-freeze has caused though.

If red's been mixed with blue-green, then they can gel. But a good flush through should sort that happily - a core plug out might well help get water in to places it'd not get otherwise, but it still seems fairly invasive.

I think I'd be flushing with a hose, for'ards and back'ards and through as many orifices as possible without pulling a core plug. Then fill it with a chemical flush, and get it good and hot. Drain. Flush it through, see what it looks like, maybe repeat the chemical flush.

Are you a CCC member? Nigel W did a good article on coolant and Ds in the mag a few issues ago. Drop me a PM, and I'll sort you a copy of it.

[ImMark]

Yes, it turns into a nasty gel which I only noticed because the water pump was seized when I started it after leaving it a year or so.

Sadly the bottom hose just comes off the pump, which is mounted onto the head, so there is still a lot of water in the block.
Thinking about it I can't imagine there are any handy core plugs in a D. Nothing much else is very handy.

No, I am not a member of the CCC at the minute so I will drop you a PM TooMany2cvs.
Thanks for that.

[TooMany2cvs]

ImMark said:

No, I am not a member of the CCC at the minute so I will drop you a PM TooMany2cvs.
Thanks for that.

You have a mail.

[ImMark]

Just to close this down...

I gave up doing anything clever.

Instead I stuck a hose pipe in all its orifices and flushed it through in every direction.
Which left me with a block full of clean water which I syphoned out.

Fingers crossed it only damaged the pump.