c3k
Ram Guru
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2020
- Messages
- 1,135
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- Age
- 64
I'm a big believer in early fluid changes. Yeah...100,000 mile/10 year coolant interval is what Mopar says. Other than cooling (and preventing freezing and boil over), coolant has sacrificial anode dissolved in it. Like the zinc block on a boat, it prevents the other metal from rotting and corroding. You know, stuff like aluminum and iron, etc. So, I change mine out every 2-3 years (or 4... Shrug.).
The drain plug on these trucks is a plastic "nut". It's more than just a nut. Here's a pic:
That's a spare. I bought 2 spares, in case I broke the installed one. (Plastic nuts and metal tools. Sigh.) I figured I'd be immobilized if I screwed up. A spare was about $8 online. I bought 2.
If you look closely, you'll see a rectangular piece of plastic molded into one of the visible faces on the hex. There are two of these "ears", the other on the opposite face.
Without these ears, a 16mm socket would fit. Well, the ears prevent that. An 18mm would fit over them. Luckily, a 10mm allen socket fits INSIDE the drain nut.
Here's what it looks like, end-on, with the measurements.
Enough of that... FINDING the drain valve is a pain. It's hidden behind (what I think is) the intercooler hose. (<- I didn't look where that big hose came from, but that's my guess as I sit here typing this.)
It's at the driver's side, bottom, of the radiator. There's a little nipple under it. A 5/16" fuel hose fit on that perfectly, so I was able to direct the draining fluid straight into a bucket. Here are some shots of that.
This is from the passenger side, looking up and left. I left the 10mm allen socket installed still, so it'd be easier to tighten it up.
From the driver's side, looking up:
It took maybe 30 minutes for the flow to reduce to just dripping. It completely emptied the reservoir, and I could hear more draining, as well. Obviously, the radiator emptied. I did this cold, so the block and heater core didn't drain. Easier than being scalded.
^^^
(Just a shot while it was in the midst of draining. It ended up emptying that tank.)
I refilled the reservoir, and then started the engine. It pulled some coolant and I just kept adding, keeping between MIN and MAX.
I used 50/50 mix. (I buy concentrate, since I hate paying for water. Plus, I can adjust to a higher concentration if I want.)
Here's a picture of some big jugs:
I got out 1 gallon of the ~2 gallon capacity. Good enough. I'll do that every other year. (1/2 of the volume every other year means that at the 10 year point (RAM's timing to swap it out), only 3% (1/32) original would be circulating. Average age of the total fluid at that point would be 1 15/16 years...call it 2 years old. MUCH better than their spec.)
Overall, it was one of the easiest radiator drains I've ever done. Not a drop spilled and the plug didn't fight me at all. There was no round out or over-torqueing sensation. The biggest difficulty is trying to get eyes on the plug. Once you know where it is, you'll have to feel your way to it, but then it's easy street.
The drain plug on these trucks is a plastic "nut". It's more than just a nut. Here's a pic:
That's a spare. I bought 2 spares, in case I broke the installed one. (Plastic nuts and metal tools. Sigh.) I figured I'd be immobilized if I screwed up. A spare was about $8 online. I bought 2.
If you look closely, you'll see a rectangular piece of plastic molded into one of the visible faces on the hex. There are two of these "ears", the other on the opposite face.
Without these ears, a 16mm socket would fit. Well, the ears prevent that. An 18mm would fit over them. Luckily, a 10mm allen socket fits INSIDE the drain nut.
Here's what it looks like, end-on, with the measurements.
Enough of that... FINDING the drain valve is a pain. It's hidden behind (what I think is) the intercooler hose. (<- I didn't look where that big hose came from, but that's my guess as I sit here typing this.)
It's at the driver's side, bottom, of the radiator. There's a little nipple under it. A 5/16" fuel hose fit on that perfectly, so I was able to direct the draining fluid straight into a bucket. Here are some shots of that.
This is from the passenger side, looking up and left. I left the 10mm allen socket installed still, so it'd be easier to tighten it up.
From the driver's side, looking up:
It took maybe 30 minutes for the flow to reduce to just dripping. It completely emptied the reservoir, and I could hear more draining, as well. Obviously, the radiator emptied. I did this cold, so the block and heater core didn't drain. Easier than being scalded.
^^^
(Just a shot while it was in the midst of draining. It ended up emptying that tank.)
I refilled the reservoir, and then started the engine. It pulled some coolant and I just kept adding, keeping between MIN and MAX.
I used 50/50 mix. (I buy concentrate, since I hate paying for water. Plus, I can adjust to a higher concentration if I want.)
Here's a picture of some big jugs:
I got out 1 gallon of the ~2 gallon capacity. Good enough. I'll do that every other year. (1/2 of the volume every other year means that at the 10 year point (RAM's timing to swap it out), only 3% (1/32) original would be circulating. Average age of the total fluid at that point would be 1 15/16 years...call it 2 years old. MUCH better than their spec.)
Overall, it was one of the easiest radiator drains I've ever done. Not a drop spilled and the plug didn't fight me at all. There was no round out or over-torqueing sensation. The biggest difficulty is trying to get eyes on the plug. Once you know where it is, you'll have to feel your way to it, but then it's easy street.
