radiator drain plug on 2000 ranger
 

Howdy All,

I'm new to this site and to my Ford Ranger, and I wanted to know if you guys could assist me with my issue? I recently took my ranger to a Jiffy Lube to get an oil change and the attendant informed me that my antifreeze was brownish color and need to be changed, however they wanted $80.00 to do the service. Of course, I declined and now I want to do it myself, however I don't know where the drain plug is located. I looke under the radiator and spotted a whited colored plastic looking nut on the passenger side of the radiator. There was also a nipple under it that resembled a grease fitting. Could this be it??? Or is it somewher else?? Any advise would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks in advance,


Freqman

:-newbie

That' it. You found it. I went through the same thing with mine the first time I flushed the system.

livinezy,


Thanx a million!!!

Slide a piece of 1/8" rubber tubing over the "nipple" and drain it right into your container

I busted my nut!!!

Read some threads there are some ranger models where the plastic bolt does not come all the way out. Is that true for a 2000?

If it can come all the way out my plans are to use locking needle nose pliers to get it out. If not an easy out. Or some rigged way.

My guess is go to an auto store and get a new one. Is it just a plastic bolt for like 5 bucks or do I need any other parts ling a new o-ring etc?

Let me know before I cause more problems than what I already got.

Busted nut
 

Yes, the white nut is loosened to drain the radiator. I did as noted above: attached tubing to drain the radiator straight into containers. When tightening the nut after draining, I broke it like Kullamon. I think that I got a little overzealous using a wrench to tighten the nut (too much advantage). Be careful when retightening.

To get the broken nut out, I used a hex wrench that fit into the remaining nut stem (the threads essentially). I was lucky enought to back it out, redrain the radiator, and install a new replacement plug I picked up at Advance. The replacement design is better: turns in by hand and avoid the tendancy to overtighten (until it snaps!!).

Good luck fellas.

Kevin