Last night while I was letting the car warm up for a bit, white smoke started coming out of the hood, so I shut the engine right away and went to inspect, a puddle of coolant was on the ground. Visually I wasn't able to tell where it was coming from, but it was on the right side where the tank is at and not the lower hose. I topped the car off with coolant, and this morning, there was a puddle again. I inspected the radiator cap, and that seems to be damaged, but it's not leaking there from what I can tell. Anyway, as the title says, i'm wen to see if the drain plug was leaking, but I can't find it. All the DIYs show a nice and right in your face blue screw. This is where all the DIYs say the screw should be, but there is nothing, it also doesn't look like anything goes there either as there is no thread.
https://imgur.com/E0P2VFX
If you don't know the age of your cooling system component, assume they need to be replaced right now. The blue plastic screw is the OEM version of the radiator drain plug. You may have an aftermarket unit. the radiator drain will still be in the same place. The drain plug for the engine block is on the right side of the motor btwn cylinders 3 and 4. If you have a puddle there is an active leak that you need to address before using the car any further.
Johnny
Johnny Murray
The previous owner might have overtightened the blue plastic plug. If this happens the end can break off and all you'll see is the shaft that screws into the expansion tank. I think that leaves hole in the plug which is either a 5 or 6 mm Allen wrench size. Just put in an Allen wrench and back it out. I know because it happened to my car. You can check Real OEM to find the exact location.
Last edited by curry; 11-19-2017 at 07:38 PM.
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