Cooling System Flush in LHS cars

I am in need to do a flush/refill of the cooling system on my 96 Eagle
Vision TSI (built 12/95) with the 3.6L engine.

And I have a few questions.

1: Where is the drain plug , what do I need to open it, and is it easily
gotten at?
(is there a diagram on line somewhere?)

2: Does any hose(s) have to be removed as part of a flush/refill?

3: Since this engine has no cap on the radaitor, I assume that the new
coolent (what ever the amount that the manual states to install) is replaced
via the "overflow" tank.

 

Lower passenger's side of radiator on the engine side, really hard to
get to, and its a *plastic* valve so I rarely bother opening it. I
disconnect the lower radiator hose and let the old coolant dump out
there, its messy but it beats breaking that &*@^# valve off and ruining
a radiator :-/

Yes, in the factory service manual- which you really should get your
hands on.

In theory, no. In practice- as I described above.

Yes, and air MUST be purged by using the bleeder screw on the thrmostat
housing. Again, you should follow the factory service manual's procedure.

 

If you decide to go the route of opening the drain plug -- you can get
to it if you CAREFULLY use pliers to grab it ( I know the FSM says not
to use pliers, but I found it impossible to turn it otherwise). It
will turn 90 degrees relatively freely and then will stop -- no coolan
will be draining at this point... If you CAREFULLY force it slightly
beyond this point you will see coolan flowing from the drain whole at
the bottom of the radiator -- you do not need to remove the plug.

If you want to get ALL the coolan out you need to open two additional
bleeders on the sides of the engine -- I NEVER did that. The manual
says that without opening those bleeders you will get only about 80%
of the coolant.

Opening the bleeder screw on top to bleed the air out is CRITICAL to
prevent engine damage.

Hope this helps,

Alex