Yeah the passenger side drain plug is much closer to the front of the vehicle....
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Well, I'm in the process of replacing a head gasket and had need to drain the coolant from the block and heads, so I finally went to use these plugs.
Both were totally frozen in place, I tried penetrating oil etc, and I'm using a quality hex head wrench for the job.... The wrench with my breaker bar on it "wound" up as I torqued it and twisted maybe 30 degrees or so until I let off the force...... It sprung back to normal when I released though.

Ended up rounding off both these plugs internally

SO, I ended up having to use a hammer and drift to knock out one of the freeze plugs in order to get the block to drain. It should be easy enough to knock another one in though, as I picked the freeze plug with the best accessibility to remove for this.

Just in case anyone else runs into this same problem :-)

I'm going to drill, tap, and plug with a regular bolt those drain plugs next time I've got the engine out of the vehicle. I have no idea why manufacturers think they should try and get "clever" with fancy crap like that sometimes.
European cars are especially bad about it.

O well.

 

Buy yourself a MAPP hand torch and become an advocate for the hot wrench society...some heat would have worked for ya

 

I wouldn't go sticking a bolt in those drain plug holes. I would bet they are pipe thread, which is different from regular bolt thread. You'll need to hit the plumbing section at your local hardware store or Home Depot, Lowes, etc and get some pipe plugs.

Wrap them with some Teflon tape before putting them in. This way they won't leak, and they won't be seized up next time you want to take them out.

 

Where your plugs steel or brass? Thinking back don't recall mine as being hex but maybe just don't remember right at the moment. I do recall they where brass and did come right out.

+1 here yea they will be pipe thread, go to hardware and get a brass tapered plug. Use either pipe dope or teflon tape either one you prefer and you won't have any trouble removing them in the future.
You could drill and tap it however don't recall the block wall being very thick at that point and very near a cylinder wall. You'd have to use some type of sealing washer, rubber wouldn't be my first choice. Heat cold cycles and exposure would rot one out in pretty quick fashion.

Yea again, might need little more then a mapp torch but defenitly get smoke wrench, heat at least one up and get it out while you have the block drained down. Should have stopped before rounding them out, held off till got a torch but likely realize that at this point.

Attempting to do so with the block full of coolant would be difficult even with a oxy acetylene setup, the coolant working against ya to build any real heat/expansion brake it loose. Never tried one, have a full size setup, but gotta doubt one of them small hand held mapp torches would even touch it when full.
Anyway best time do at least one side (easiest one to get to), be now with it drained of coolant.

 

These plugs appear to be steel...
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You know, I've never tried a torch for getting things like that loose, although I've heard of it's application before. I always just use the magic penetrating solution (I use a 50:50 mix of acetone and ATF.... works better than anything else money can buy---- although I know I have to be careful to say that so as to not arouse another Liquid Wrench vs PB Blaster vs AeroKroil flame war )

I spent a few years disabled after a nasty incident with a VERY large dog, and after I got back on my feet and able to work again, I began just carrying a couple pieces of pipe with the rest of my tools to use as a cheater bar for anything which was even SLIGHTLY more tight than I could easily remove without straining. It's a practice that I still use, and it saves a lot of energy for me.

It's the darndest thing between me and those internal hex head bolts though.
I've never stripped, rounded, or broken a single bolt in my entire life that wasn't one of those darn things.

The only torch that I've got on hand is a small propane torch... but if the MAPP really works that well, I may have to give it a try. Should I try and go for red hot, or just nice and hot? And then I've heard you can touch an ice-cube to the fastener's head in order to really help with the loosening.

I'm going to make sure and take some pictures of the exhaust manifold bolts that I pulled a couple days ago using my 50:50 nutbuster stuff.... Nobody would have believed that these things would have come out without cutting them off!

 

You could put a small magnet to the plug's to see if they are steel

a MAPP torch is a small propane torch, but comes with a hotter gas about $40.00 at Home depot. They work well, and is much easier for me sometimes, then to break out my big torch.

 

Hey guys, realize this is a bit of a dead thread, but this is the first time I've posted (usually I can find the answer elsewhere in this amazing resource.)

Anyways, tonight I installed a flush tee kit, and went to refill after flushing as I've done on previous vehicles in the past. I wasn't able to refill with proper antifreeze amount, and I'm sure I hadn't gotten all the water out of the block. After researching, I found out about the plugs. I stripped out the Allen head part of the plug on driver side..embarrassed doesn't begin to explain how I'm feeling. I haven't attempted to pull the passenger plug as I'm letting AeroKroil do its thing overnight.

What size pipe plug do I need? I'll be hitting the hardware store in the AM.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

This may or may not help you...

I had same problem with my 300. I ended up using a 12" drill bit and GENTLY drill through it center. Then I used an extractor. An Erwin extractor bit to remove the pipe plug.

Its far easier on the 300, but it may be doable on the 302 without the wheel well attached. Mine came out like a dream!! I also used MAPP torch and kroil and pb blaster to free it.