Dodge caravan won't drain antifreeze

[Blackmirror]

Its real easy to change the coolant on my Buick GN. this is the first time today I tried to change the coolant on the 96 caravan and when i went to loosen the petcock no coolant was coming down. So I kept on twisting it counerclockwise and still no coolant coming out. What am I doing wrong? The motor was cooled down before I did this.

[BradE]

Some engines you need to pull the petcock all the way out. Not sure on a Dodge, but some you do. Also, remove the radiator cap first, it releases the pressure. It's also possible the drain is clogged with rust and other sludge. If you remove the petcock and still get nothing try inserting a small thin screwdriver though the hole. If it's sludged up, it will open it up.

If none of that works, you will probably have to pull the lower radiator hose.

[bretfraz]

Just for you, snagged from the internet:

You're not the only owner to turn that knob on the bottom of the radiator and have "nothing" of coolant drain out. Here's what I do: (ensure the engine has cooled down compeletly before attempting to drain the coolant, serious burns can occur) SAFETY ALWAYS! Have a bucket or container to collect the coolant. It's against the law to let coolant drain on the roadside. (1)to gain access to the lower radiator hose you must remove the air cleaner housing cover compeletely. Only two bolts and loosen the two hose clamps so you can pull it out. (2) remove the radiator cap (3) Loosen the bottom radiator hose clamp at the point where it connects with the engine hose inlet. It may have a pressure clamp, so just apply pressure to the pressure tips with a pair of pliers and pull it back over the hose. (4) Pull the radiator hose back to remove. Spin it slightly left and right as you pull. Let the coolant drain into the bucket.
Once it has drained compeletly, leave the radiator hose off and draining into the bucket. Place your water hose into the radiator and flush it with clean water for a couple of minutes. Replace the radiator hose, fill the radiator with water and redrain by removing the hose again (don't start the engine). That's it. Reattach the radiator hose and clamp. Reassemble everything else in reverse order. While your at it, you should remove and wash the coolant reservior too. Once you've checked all your connections, bolts, clamps...etc, refill your radiator and reservior with the correct coolant. Make sure you haven't left any tools in the engine compartment. Start your engine and let it run until it reaches operating temperature. Shut it off and after it cools down, check the radiator and reservior coolant level. Add if necessary.
This procedure is a little time consuming, but it gets a nice coolant flush. Good luck!

See? I'm not such a bad guy....

[Blackmirror]

the drain looks clean. I think I'll try to pull the drain cock out rather than twist it like there's no tomorrow If that doesn't work I'll do what bretfraz said. Thanks for the help guys!

[IndigoGTI]

My brother-in-law's Ranger had this same problem last weekend. What we did was flush the radiator as best we could, and then we used my compressor to force air into the drain valve and blow all of the gunk out of the radiator. When he opened the air nozzle, it blew a 3/4 inch diamemer chunk of crud out of the raidator. After that, we ran water through the raidator until it came out clean. Then filld the radiator, ran the engine until it warmed up, and then drained from the petcock like. The rest of the junk drained out of the cooling system. We realized that his radiator was so badly clogged that only the top half of the radiator had coolant circulating through it. This might be the case with yours too. It is just from hoses deteriorating, and sediments settling to the bottom of the radiator.

From now on, flush your radiator every two years at least.