Volvo Penta MD2030 - Draining the coolant?

[Skylark]

As part of winter lay-up it's timely to drain, flush and replace the coolant on my Penta MD2030.

The manual shows a wing-nut style arrangement for the drain plug located in the side of the block near the oil filter.

As with most boats, access to the side of the engine is pretty tight and I can find nothing tho match the manula clip-art. Close to the oil flilter, there is a square drive plug with thread about 20mm in diameter (a guess). Can anyone confirm that this is the coolant drain plug, please?

If so, a couple of supplementary questions, (1) what size socket / drive will remove the plug. Side access for a spanner looks near impossible! (2) the size of the plug suggests once undone it's flow rate will be high; is there an eloquent method to catch the coolant, given poor access, or just use plenty of rags!

Many thanks

 

[cmedsailor]

Close to the oil flilter, there is a square drive plug with thread about 20mm in diameter (a guess). Can anyone confirm that this is the coolant drain plug, please?

(2) the size of the plug suggests once undone it's flow rate will be high; is there an eloquent method to catch the coolant, given poor access, or just use plenty of rags!

Yes, that's the one but I don't remember the size.
Flow rate will be not that high if you keep the cap of the exchange heater closed. Let the whole coolant drain into the bilge below the engine (it's around 4 litres) and then use a pump and a bucket (or probably the oil change pump if you have one) to empty it.
Once you find your way there (!) it's not a difficult job.
Good luck.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

No that nut isnt the drain plug. There will be what looks like a wing nut operated small tap to allow the fluid to drain. It is just in front of the oil filter and may even have a short length of plastic pipe attached.

I'm impressed though. All I have ever done is drain some fluid from the header tank and top up with neat antifreeze. And even that, not very often.

 

[pvb]

No that nut isnt the drain plug. There will be what looks like a wing nut operated small tap to allow the fluid to drain. It is just in front of the oil filter and may even have a short length of plastic pipe attached.

Strangely, you're both right! Depending on its age, the 2030 can have slightly different draining arrangements, some with a tap, some with a plug.

 

[cmedsailor]

No that nut isnt the drain plug. There will be what looks like a wing nut operated small tap to allow the fluid to drain. It is just in front of the oil filter and may even have a short length of plastic pipe attached.

I'm impressed though. All I have ever done is drain some fluid from the header tank and top up with neat antifreeze. And even that, not very often.

As pvb said, yes this was an easier solution on earlier MD2030 models!! On my MD2030D it's that square nut.
By the way I also thought (in the first 2 years of ownership) that by draining the fluid from the side of the exchange heater is adequate but it's not. In there you can drain only about 1 litre which is 1/4 of the whole coolant.

 

[PeterGibbs]

Yes, that's the one but I don't remember the size.
Flow rate will be not that high if you keep the cap of the exchange heater closed. Let the whole coolant drain into the bilge below the engine (it's around 4 litres) and then use a pump and a bucket (or probably the oil change pump if you have one) to empty it.
Once you find your way there (!) it's not a difficult job.
Good luck.

You can reduce the flooding of coolant on to the floor by opening the top cap and pumping out as much coolant as you can reach. I use my oil hand pump - I have one of the small brass type with a narrow plastic tube to get at the oil. It gets more than half the fluid out through the top.

A plastic oil can / water bottle cut in half will probabaly squeeze in under the block tap to at least take out some of the fluid.

PWG

 

[Skylark]

Thanks

Many thanks for the helpful replies. Mine is the MD2030D version so it looks like the square drive plug is what I've been searching for.

I'll use a cut-in-half milk container to try to catch at least some of the spill. I'll let the rest soak into rags as I'd prefer not to have glycol circulating around the bilge.

The manual suggests that where freezing is unlikely (the sea?) it's not necessary to use anti-free but use an anti corrosion agent instead. It says that the two should not be mixed. What's the likelihood that an anti corrosion agent is used in a Beneteau instead of an antifreeze?

Do people who change engine coolant routinely flush the system, as suggested in the manual?

 

[Ruffles]

You can speed things up by putting your hand over the the filler and blowing into the overflow pipe. Otherwise it takes ages. Though it might be quicker without the tab.