How do I drain the radiator coolant in my truck ? The only valve I find on the radiator is a plastic 16 mm nut with a small spigot outlet below it… that will turn, 1/2 turn, but nothing drains. Did I miss something?
Not all radiators have drain valves. Does your truck have the original radiator? Usually the radiator than comes with the truck new has a drain valve, but replacement radiators especially tend to not have built-in drain valves on them. Also, sometimes there is a plastic plug which is supposed to be removed to use the drain valve, and maybe that wasn’t done during the installation process on your truck. Did you look in the owner’s manual? Maybe you are looking in the wrong place, and the owner’s manual will show you where it is. I know on my Corolla I had to look around some time before I found the drain valve for the radiator. It wasn’t a nut used to open it though, it was a little handle-like gadget right above where the fluid comes out that you turn. Hopefully somebody here w/Dodge truck experience may be able to tell you exactly where to look.
Did you remove the radiator cap first? Sometimes you have to do that before the radiator will drain. Also, its possible your drain valve is plugged with debris for some reason. When was the last time your replaced the coolant?
If all else fails, you can just remove the lower radiator hose. That’s what I do w/my new replacement radiator, which doesn’t have a drain valve. The drain valve is slightly more convenient, but not that big of a deal to worry much about.
Loosen the drain 1/2 turn (or however far it goes) and then try to pull it out. It should move out half an inch or so and coolant should start draining.
Many of those drain plugs have a little pin in them that follows a grove so that as you turn the plug, it comes out. If you turned the plug and it didn’t come out, the pin is probably broken. Try turning the plug and pulling at the same time.