Ever try to drain the antifreeze out of a car and have it not hit the drain pan because everything is in the way or you can't get to the drain plug at all. This is a hazmat material. It ends up all the shop floor and you have to use some stay dri to clean up, and that ends up in the land fill. If its a plastic radiator, don't even bother. Draining oil. Why is that crossmember in the way? Just my opinion.
The car was designed and manufactured before anyone ever thought about Environmental agencies, Occupational Safety Hazards Agency, or related 'bureaus' to protect us from ourselves. There should be a Retroactive Automotive Scavenge Bureau to provide biodegradable formed pans that fit the various and sundry poorly thought out designs than make such spillage. There. I said it. But don't expect me to vote for types that would enforce such pettiness...
There's an inline pipe with a petcock in it to splice into the lower radiator hose. pretty sure Speedway sells 'em. Your results may vary.
Recover rain water w/a large barrel. Next spillage, dissipate the offending hazard. Remain calm. Keep it close to the vest. FAR worse is dumped into our air/water/food by the Big Brother Hood.
most of the petcocks I seen have a nub for a hose , put the hose on after you break the valve loose and then slip the hose on and aim it into a pan ... if there is no petcock , remove the install one they are cheap , I have one the radiator and 2 on the blocks also you can direct solutions with a wire too
Block drain plugs are usually lower than the bottom of the radiator or its bottom hose. So it's prolly best to replace these 1/4" MPT steel plugs with compact 1/4" MPT brass draincocks if there's not enough room for a petcock/valve and hose. You may still need a big catch-pan but you won't be fighting to remove the plugs next time. http://www.amazon.com/Milton-Indust...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00 Jack E/NJ
This, and frankly on just about everything new and old. I only suffer a little if it's a car that didn't get one or was disrespectfully eliminated. When that's the case, 1 mess, never again. And 90% of what I work on daily is old so... With regard to the title, I was thinking "Don't we all..."
I've been working on cars for a paycheck since the 60's. I learned a long time ago that ease of maintenance is not a priority of the designers. Ease of assembly is the priority. Most cars will make it through warranty without any major problems. Then it's not the company's problem, so it's not a problem. I guess the first time I realized this was having to drop both sides of the exhaust leadoff pipes off to pull the starter on a 58 Chevy with a 348 in it.
Larry T got it right, it's for ease and speed of manufacturing.. To hell with the technician later on in the vehicles life, it's still the same today, or maybe worse, with all the extra electronic wizfiz they have crammed under the hood..
When I build a project and have to make a bracket or gizmo of some sort I always ask myself, if it fails can I fix it by the roadside, in the dark with nothing but tools in the trunk. A little thought up front can make a big difference later. A little off topic but the oil filter on my Harley is horizontal in front of the engine and if unscrewed it pours oil all down the front of the engine and frame. They sell a strangely shaped plastic funnel that inserts under the filter and it comes with a regular 16d nail. You insert the funnel then punch a hole in the top of the filter with the nail and turn the filter so the nail hole is down and it drains the oil into the funnel and into a catch container.
Punching a hole in the filter won't work with most cars. A Harley is a dry sump system with all the oil in a tank above the filter level, so it all drains out. Most of the oil in a car is below the filter level. Making a funnel to catch the oil and route it to your oil catch can is a great idea.
I always thought this stuff was because as kids we use to pick on the kids that ended up as designers and engineers and this was their way of getting payback.
I've made some creative aluminum foil shapes to get around some of this. My daily 2006 silverado will fill the transfer case crossmember with oil when I pull the oil filter if I don't build an aluminum foil dome over it.
I got a 2 foot by 3 foot black plastic cement mixing pan at home depot. about 10 inches high. I use it for just those occasions, catches most of it.
Another one is no drain plug in Gm transmission pans. Manage to catch a few quarts and the rest ends up on the garage floor.
Larry T, I once replaced the starter on my58 Impala 280 HP 348 and didn't check its operation before buttoning it up. Turned out the new starter was inoperative. At least disconnecting the pipes was much easier the second time. Learned a valuable lesson that day. Gary
I had a co-worker with a lot of tools do a tune-up for a OT 1972 Ford Maverick. You should have seen the horrible skinned knuckles and heard the loud cursing as he tried to remove the spark plugs. Some cars it seems are meant to be disposed of before any maintenance is done.
O/T, but this is kind of the flip side of engineers and designers not caring about maintenance. I was faced with changing the engine in my son's Subaru Baja this weekend and was thinking it would be a huge hassle. Not so much. Two motor mount bolts, two bolts to remove the radiator, eight bellhousing bolts, unplug four electrical connectors, six exhaust manifold bolts, a few miscellaneous hoses for vacuum/fuel/coolant, and boom, out of the bay in under two hours. Pop off the flywheel, bolt it to the new motor, new clutch, back in and running three hours later. An anomaly I'm sure, but I was pleasantly surprised as to how easy it was.
the dorman petcocks 1/8th " http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-61105 and the 1/4"http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-61106 and the wrench to keep from boogering them up , yes it works and I use it often vs the finding the pliers that fit https://www.google.com/search?q=dor...dorman+49126&tbm=shop&spd=3398603565602874032
we buy the B&m kit and then take a 3/8 drill bit a cordless drill ( this is where the one your mother in law gave you that wobbles ) and a spray paint cap and drill a hole thru the cap and then use a hose clamp or duct tape to hold the cap in place and then drill the pan carefully over a pan where you want the trans drain to be and walla , the cap sits against the pan while you drill ( preventing the circle shower ) then when it penetrates the pan, the cap then catches the hot/warm fluid then you pull the drill off and let drain it in the catch pan below the hole . then remove the pan and install the drain kit or replace the pan with a drain equiped one . learned this from the trans shop guys they said it saved them the trouble of having a pan drop all the way and then knocking over the tall pan or splashing over the side .
they did!! a plug that falls out as it breaks and into the fluid and then it will not go back in ... and the then you find out its a dealer only part and the parts dept just closed or its saturday and not open .... or better yet NLA and revised mid year ....
I've been ice picking oil filters for years letting them drain into a separate pan while either lubing zerk fittings or draining the oil. All the Hondas we've had, the filter were 90* to the block. My 2013 Eco Ford pickup has a drain trough when take off the filter. It passes the oil to the opposite side of the engine.
Plastic oil bottles can be chopped up to make splash guard / funnels. I just did that draining the radiator on my '37 Chevy. Crack the petcock with pliers, then jam the plastic bottle with one side mostly cut away in between the bottom of the radiator and the crossmember, with the spout pointed down and the bottle covering the area around the petcock. Turn the petcock open with a screwdriver and watch it drain in to the pan without making a mess.
My lovely wife gave me a form-able funnel that I use for everything. It has a green rubberized coating over something that bends and holds it's shape - even a tube shape. My '55 F100 with a 302 has an oil pan plug that drains right onto the crossmember, that funnel works great. http://www.amazon.com/Form-Funnel®-Flexible-Draining-Tool/dp/B003V9JWHO While you have the coolant drained put in a better petcock, maybe even add a hard line and move the petcock somewhere convenient.
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