95 2.2 block coolant drains-wrench size

[brighton98]

I want to drain the 95 Lego's coolant and I'd like to know what tool I need. According to Haynes manual, they're big Allen heads, larger than any wrench I have. Ideas?? Thanks.

[ShawnW]

Pull the thermostat housing bolts, 2 10MM and pull the t-stat. Youll need to have a new t-stat gasket but they are cheap at the dealer.

 

Haynes is misleading at times.

[ron917]

They're 14mm. AutoZone has a 3-pack of big Hex key sockets with a 14mm in it. On my '99 EJ25, the one plug I had to remove had sealant on it (also shown the FSM), so it didn't want to come off easily. I used Permatex Ultra Grey to reinstall.

 

But I don't think it's really necessary to remove the plug(s) to do a coolant change. Pulling the t-stat drains as much out as you're going to get without pulling the engine and tipping it over.

 

I removed the plug during an engine swap. The rebuilt engine came with a fitting for an oil cooler where my old engine just had the plug, so I needed to swap the plug over because I don't have the oil cooler.

[porcupine73]

Yah I wouldn't pull the block plugs just to change coolant. But right on they're 14mm hex. They are usually pretty hard to get out. For doing coolant heaters I usually use an impact wrench on them and even then it takes some beating to get those buggers out.

 

[ron917]

They are usually pretty hard to get out. For doing coolant heaters I usually use an impact wrench on them and even then it takes some beating to get those buggers out.

 

 

It was no match for a 4 foot pipe on my Allen wrench. But my engine was on a stand and flipped upside down, which makes it much easier to swing a 4 foot wrench

[Gnuman]

The 14mm allen socket from Autozone is on a 1/2" drive socket. add a 3' or 6" extemsion and a breaker bar, then put a pipe on the breaker bar. You swing it sticking out the front of the car and you have plenty of room. All you really need the 4' wrench for is to break the thing loose. then you can use a standard 1/2" drive ratchet. i also vote that the only time you need to break these loose is to replace them with a cooler or heater. the tstat housing is plenty to change out the coolant.

[brighton98]

I already have a new tstat and gasket ready to go. Thanks for the advice!