claf

I am a half way decent amateur mechanic BUT for the life of me I can't even find the radiator drain on my '04. What is the down side if I just pull off the radiator hoses ? How much coolant will I lose ? As it is, I think I'm already down a gallon so how big of a mess will I create doing it the lazy man's way ? How much aggravation can such a "simple" repair cause ?

Macleod52

Should be a petcock on the radiator. It's on the passenger side IIRC.

zeevette

Use a 1/4" nut driver. It's only 1/4 turn, and very fragile.

claf

This is embarrassing, while I was looking for the drain earlier, I actually found it but didn't know what it was. I stuck my 1/4 " drive in there and gently turned it both ways a little at a time until I had a full quarter turn counter clockwise and NOTHING HAPPENED. I figured when I turned it fluid would come out !

Well, the little stinker was stuck and I didn't have enough brains to wiggle or pry on it. Therefore I lowered the car and moved it back into the the garage, turned off the heat and called it a day.

Sometime in the next couple weeks I'll be motivated to try again with my new found knowledge perhaps there will be a more successful result. Thanks to those who have tried to educate me, at 82 I need all the help I can get.

twokbolt

Dude at 82 and working on your own car yourself. You are my hero.

Ducati Guy

I hope I am not going to get in trouble here...........I just took the hose off. Had a big *** drain pan under the car that caught all the fluid. Was easy as can be. Hose had to come off anyway!

Alley Oop

Claf, I'm 72 and was thinking, maybe I'm too old for a C5. Since you've got 10 years on me and still twisting a wrench, mentioning that you're 82, changed my entire outlook. I am definitely going to get that C5.

Ducati Guy

If not now when!!!!!

Get it. You only go around once.

I got mine a year ago. was quite the stretch financially. Took some heat from the misses. I work very hard. The car is my therapy. Love even looking at it. But when I start it up the sound alone is therapy. Swapped out the stock exhaust for XS Power cat backs. I hardly ever use the sound system. Just loooooooove hearing the exhaust.

If you want a C5 and can manage it.............do it!!!!

runner140*

leadfoot4

I'll be 65 soon, bought my '01 C-5 when I was 49. In all honesty, I can't get in and out of it quite as easily as I once could, but there's no way, in the foreseeable future, that I'd sell it......

claf

Alley, never look back. I "cruise" with a group of Corvette people that blows some minds. My best friend Frank is also 82 and has a 1960, Chick is 80 and has a 2007, Billy (the kid) is 70 and has a 1991, George (our "secretary") is 78 and has a 1996, 1973, 1964 and a 1959. Never let age get in the way of having fun. (I also have a '62)

Vetteman Jack

Good luck getting that coolant drained - now that you know how to get the drain plug to work.

Alley Oop

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys.