Please help me out here. I have been trying to get the darn drain valve open for over an hour. It is really frustrating me. The thing just won't budge no matter what I try! Thank you!!!

I used a pair of pliers and got it open without too much difficulty.

thanks but mine is at such an angle i cant use pliars on them?

you can't get pliers on them?! it shouldn't be that difficult at all....

wait...you did remove the splash shield right? :confused:

lol yeah its all off, i have the intercooler off, the spark plugs out, the gbods off and cant get this darn thing turned so i can replace my hoses and turbo w/o a mess. The angle is such that if i got pliars on them i could only turn it to tighten it there would be no room to turn it to loosen it. in order to get pliars on it so i could turn it the right way id have the come from behind and i cant do that. this really stinks, the little things always get me, argh. Thanks for the help.

whoah you got a lot of stuff off...well anyways. try to wiggle the plier back and forth when it's on the drain valve, that might break it loose.

good idea, its worth a shot... i mean it seems like i must be messing with the wrong part, but what i am looking at looks like all pics/diagrams/descriptions ive seen

go ahead and give it a shot, oh and place a plastic hose or something to guide the coolant into the drain pain, that stuff splashes all over the place.

Well i can move it clockwise, but not get it lose enough to be able to move it counter-clockwise once i cant use the pliers anymore. Also, i place a hose on the little opening or the big one or both? I got all that stuff off but now its been a good 3 hours of trying to loosen this darn thing, man what a day.

it does go counter-clockwise right? lol

if i never get this to work, what lese can I do? If I take off only the upper hose and the turbo, will it be a disaster? I really don't need to flush/drain the entire system just to change the hoses and the turbo. I had a friend help me in the last hour and we still couldn't get the valve to turn.

Remove the lower radiator hose where it meets the thermostat housing. That's a real pain to do as well and I have a permanent lower radiator hose removal scar on my right wrist as a battle scar.

Remove the lower radiator hose where it meets the thermostat housing. That's a real pain to do as well and I have a permanent lower radiator hose removal scar on my right wrist as a battle scar.

no technician is complete without several cuts, scars, and burns all over their arms. Missing body parts optional. :huh:

Yeah how are you supposed to remove the lower hose when the head of the clamp screw is facing up and is blocked from the top? Should I destroy the hose before it destroys me?

or just put everything back together and get it done at the dealer for $30, less if you supply your own coolant and conditioner.

Yeah how are you supposed to remove the lower hose when the head of the clamp screw is facing up and is blocked from the top? Should I destroy the hose before it destroys me?

The head of the screw should be facing down to the ground from the factory unless someone has been in there ;)

After you loosen the clamp, twist the hose around the T-stat housing to free it loose, and pull off in the same motion firmly, but steadily. I've had my fair share of scars, but it's quite miniscule compared to others.

By now, it's almost as easy as filling the washer fluid reservoir, other than a little bit of contortionist moves :D

-paK +4

Man I can't believe how ridiculous this is, I am definitely not going to put it all back together lol. I think I will just do the upper hose and turbo and then top off the fluid. Then after its all said and done take it to a shop to get the bottom one loosened and the coolant done. I just can't believe that something so stupid is such a problem, man its crazy. BTW the bottom hoses clamp is definitely facing up, idk why/how it got that way cause i have never touched it, but it is definitely inaccessible. Thanks for the help, more advice is still appreciated.

I used a very small crescent wrench and open the jaws to straddle the valve ears. took acouple of 10 degree moves but worked great. Ed

I'll have to try that, I just bought a small crescent wrench for this purpose anyway lol. I heard from a guy at the store though that there are sockets made for wingbuts which may be what I need. Thanks and keep it coming :-)

yup...this took me forever and killed my hands. There is even less room to work with, with my borla headers too....i think.

when i changed mine i used an 11/16 in. socket and it fit right over the plug, then i just ratcheted it off.