I'm putting this one on the BB out of humility and for educational purposes. We've owned 240s since 1990, dang near 20 years! In the past, if it was necessary to crack the cooling system open, I always pulled the lower radiator hose at the rad to drain the system, a VERY messy solution with coolant going everywhere, perhaps a third in the bucket and the rest pouring on the floor! Over the past years, I've always known about the coolant drain valve on the passenger side lower rear of the engine block, but I always considered it to be too much of a PITA to get at.

So, over the thankfully long weekend, I had to do a water pump transplant on the 92 245 "Bleen" along with a valve cover gasket replacement. I decided to try the coolant drain valve on the block rather than my old messy method (finally got the garage floor clean three weeks ago). I jacked up the front of the car so I could get a bucket under the drain, snagged a ratchet with a 13mm deep well socket and easily loosened the drain valve while working from the top. Once it started dripping, I plugged a piece of hose onto the barb of the drain valve and used a 13mm open end wrench from the bottom of the car to open it the rest of the way. NOTE: Cherry lower chassis bars make this difficult.

Ten minutes later, the rad was 2/3rds empty and there was a little over a gallon of coolant in the bucket. When I pulled the water pump, there was just a tiny dribble, perhaps 20 drops that hit the floor. What a joy, no mess!

A quick water pump swap with a bit of RTV on the mushroom seal, O-ring seal, and gasket, all went well. The shaft seal and the mushroom seals were both leaking on the old pump. To finish up, I closed the drain valve with the 13mm deep well socket and ratchet, followed by pouring the contents of the bucket back into the reservoir. I did have to add a bit of coolant to top the system off due to the seal leaks and the 20 drops... about six ounces!

Once again, this may be a no-brainer that everyone else has been using for decades, but I've run into more than a few posts on the BB about "what is that fitting on the passenger side of the engine?" I'll never do this job again the old way, unless the three year old BlackStone rad gives up the ghost!

jorrell

ps. a very leaky valve cover gasket can let the engine lose a quart of oil in 300 miles, even with a fresh spark arrester!

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92 245 250K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!