Coolant Volume only 4Qts in 1995 Q45

[Walnuts]

Last night I decided to flush and replace the coolant in my 95 Q45. I read the appropriate section of the FSM and purchased 5 Gallons of distilled water and 2 Gallons of coolant. I planned to drain, and flush with distilled water until clear and then refill the 10 + Quarts capacity with 1/2 distilled water 1/2 coolant.

I knew something wasn't quite right when I couldn't find both of the drains outlined in the FSM. It seemed that my radiator only had a single drain on the passenger side of the radiator. I opened the drain and followed the instructions for setting the AC\heater to read 43 on the display. The amount of coolant that drained out certainly didn't look like 10+ quarts.

After the fluid ran clear I let it fully drain and then closed the single drain valve. BTW, I didn't mess with the 2 engine block plugs. I then started to refill using 4 quarts of coolant first and was surprised to see that I was about to overflow the radiator fill tube before I completely emptied the fist gallon of coolant. I let the engine run 30 secs or so and even did the "43" procedure a few times to see if it would let the coolant drain into the entire system. Still the level was to the top. Is it possible that the previous own had a non OEM radiator installed that would have a much smaller capacity?

I have owned this car for two months now and have never noticed the temp needle move above half way.

[DAEDALUS]

How do you expect to get 10+ quarts out if you don't remove the block plugs?

[maxnix]

Yeah, doing it that way would require repeated fill and drains with distilled water, especially if you want to change to an OAT type coolant. You probably have too much ethylene glycol now, which means it may be running hotter than it should from poor heat transfer.

[natsoundup]

I think I did the flush and fill with the "43" procedure about 10 times before I was satisfied with the flush.

Just added just under a gallon of anti-freeze after that. Put the rest in the reserve tank.

I have heard too many concerns over pulling the freeze plugs. The radiator is original on the 90... but I do the flush and fill every other year, so I am happy with my results. Still have original water pump. I keep waiting for that to go... although I hear it dies a slow death.

[Walnuts]

Thanks for the responses. I guess I was thinking that just opening the radiator drain would pull some of the fluid that is sitting in the engine framework with the help of gravity since the drain plug is the lowest point. I read some posts about siezed engine drain plugs after 100K miles or so and other problem with the plugs leaking after reinserting them. This is why I opted to just drain the radiator. At least I know now that most of the coolant (6 qaurts +) is actually surronding the engine. I think I'll drain the radiator again and then add a gallon of distilled water. I'll then check to see how balanced (50% water\50% ethylene glycol) my solution is.

Thanks for the help.