Removing square water drain plug on Volvo 2020? ahhhhh....

[Zippysigma]

Just lost some knuckle skin trying to remove the water drain plug on a Volvo 2020C. It seems to be a square 10mm across flats, is 7 years old and still has all the paint on.

I can get a spanner on it, but no room to swing it!

As it is 7 years old and has been serviced regularly ( I have the invoices), is there another way of draining the water?

I tried a socket, but couldn't get any 16point styles to fit.

Otherwise, the sun was out and all the deck jobs were very pleasant /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

 

[franky]

I have bought a set of ratchet spanners at Halfords.They can attach to a variety of sockets and screwdriver bits but the best of all is that they do not need to be swung very far between strokes.Good luck.

 

[roly_voya]

A standard 12 monthly service may well not include changing fresh water cooland, from memory most antifreeze is good for about 4 years. Can you get a socket wrench to it? In which case get an allen socket, say 10mm then get a 10mm 3/8 drive socket which ill fit the allen part (reverse it) File out the 3/8 socket by .7mm (3/8 = 9.3mm) and it will fit the square plug. If it is still stuck try a plumbers freezing kit to shink it.

 

[cardinal_mark]

I had exactly the same problem last week on a 2020B and believe me, the air was turning blue! Luckily the guy working on his boat next to me knew the problem and suggested that he trick is NOT to undo the square drain plug - unless you're a double jointed elf it is physically imposssible!

Assuming the 2020C has a similar set up to the 2020B, undo the valve (the bit with little handles for turning it with your fingers) to the point where it comes into contact with the oil dip stick pipe. Then gently ease the dip stick pipe out of its way away (it only takes a mm or so movement using a long screwdriver) and remove the valve completely - taking extreme care not to drop it!!!

Once its out, assuming yours is gunked up like mine, there wont be any water running out. To get the drain working you'll need to get a pice of seizing wire / old coat hanger etc, in the hole, wiggle it around for a while then slowly but surely the water will begin to drain. On my set up there was also no way of getting a container under the drain plug so you might also want to have a plan for this as well (maybe a piece of pipe to push on when the flow starts?).

Once all done, I then cut about 2 mm off each end of the drain valve so that next time I wont have to force it past the dip stick tube.

Aaaah, Volvo, donchaluvem!!

Hope this helps - it worked for me.

Mark

 

[Malish]

I don't know the engine but I empty out the fresh water from an engine by removing one end of the lowest cooling hose.

 

[Ruffles]

You can accelerate draining by removing the filler cap, sealing the hole with your palm and blowing into the overflow tube until you hear air coming out.

 

[Zippysigma]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Unfortunately this engine does not seem to have the drain tap, just a plug, hence the issue.

I guessed that there must be a hose somewhere that 'those in the know' disconnect, I just need to figure out where. As it is a closed system with an attached heat exchanger rather than an external one, I am not sure if any of the hoses are coolant water rather than raw water.

I guess another inspection next week and get ready to modify some tools.......

1st attempt to add a photo, so here goes..

[image]http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/43dfd433_33fb/bc/Photos/Image030.jpg?bfHgCyHB4j7f0_V_[/image]

 

[Zippysigma]

oh well the photo didn't work!

 

[Ruffles]

[ QUOTE ]

Unfortunately this engine does not seem to have the drain tap, just a plug, hence the issue.


[/ QUOTE ]
Are you sure you're looking in the right place? It should be next to the oil filter. Here's a piccy from the manual:

 

[brians]

My 2020C does not have a tap either, only the square taper plug that this thread is all about.

 

[Zippysigma]

The image that I failed to attach shows a square plug exactly where the manual shows the tap in your image.

ps what did I do wrong trying to attach an image?????

 

[Ruffles]

[ QUOTE ]
T
ps what did I do wrong trying to attach an image?????

[/ QUOTE ]
The ybw site won't link to an image unless the url ends in .jpg or whatever.
I don't use yahoo but does it offer other ways of linking to the image?

 

[alan]

Although the manual shows a "tap", mine was fitted with the square headed plug as described previously. I managed to shift mine with a spanner but maybe I had more room to work than the poster!!!
I questioned the local volvo mechanic about fitting a tap and he said they are more trouble than they are worth because they leak after a while .......... so, I never fitted one.
Alan.

 

[Zippysigma]

I will try again!

 

[kspirit53]

I have just had the same problem. I managed to undo the old 10mm square plug using a 3/8 inch square socket extension bar, 6 inches long, used the wrong way round (need to carefully manoeuvre around the oil dip stick housing), connected to a 10mm, 1/2 inch drive socket onto the square end of the extension bar, onto a standard 1/2 inch socket bar, extended to get extra purchase. Very gently removed the plug and then fitted a standard Volvo plug with drain tap (£8.00) to which you can attach a clear plastic pipe and drain directly into a suitable containor. This took me several weeks to work out but now that it is done, draining the fresh water side is a doddle.

Good luck!

 

[Stellina]

Where did you buy the tap?

 

[Zippysigma]

Thanks, that is the beauty of the forums; making use of other's spending hours fixing the same problem!!

 

[kspirit53]

I bought the tap from the Volvo Penta shop at Port Solent, Portsmouth but suspect any Volvo Penta dealer will either stock or get one for you. I think mine took a day to come.