M20 draining coolant with tubular manifold

[clarko74]

Morning all,

I'm in the process of changing the cambelt on my m20 and am having trouble accessing the engine block coolant drain plug. I have a BTB3 manifold fitted and I can just about see the plug but due to all the manifold pipes cannot find a way to touch it or get a spanner on it.



Can anyone confirm if it is possible to access this with a tubular manifold? Or if not what's the best alternative, empty as much coolant as possible by disconnecting the hose from the coolant reservoir where it enters the block?

It's a prefacelift m20 if that makes any difference. I also have one of those vacuum fluid extractors which might be useful but I'm not sure where to shove the pipe in.

Cheers,

[maggspower]

There won't be much water left in the cooling system when you take the water pump off!

Stop faffing around and get it done

[clarko74]

Yes, I just realised that when I took the water pump off a couple of minutes ago!

Cheers,

[Brianmoooore]

Very few people with M20s even know about that drain plug, let alone use it. It's still difficult to access with the standard manifold, and usually results in at least some skin missing from the knuckles.
For a coolant change, just flush the block with clean water.