This just stopped being fun. I drained the radiator part way to get the top hose off so I can remove fan etc to tab the killer dowel pin. Now I can't get the thing to stop dripping. I don't know if it is suspose to be a 1/4 turn valve or if you just keep turning until it opens. I turned it a couple of turns but it only seems to go 1/4 turn now to close. Did I screw it up, and how do I fix it? If the radiator needs to come out I want to know before I get everything back together. If so guess I'll have to drive my Ford until the parts dept opens

 

It gets better. Now the shroud and fan are off I can see the previous owner already put a retainer bolt in. So this was an unnecessary effort. Still need to get it to stop dripping so I can reassemble and move on to the guage install. <br>1997 2500 4X4 5 speed CTD

 

Generally, drain petcocks are threaded, not a quick-open type thing that would only rquire a 1/4 turn. Have you tried working it back and worth? Some stuff from inside the colling system, or corrosion may be holding it back. I have seen this many times before, although I haven't messed with the cooling system on my 99 yet.<br><br>Glad the KDP is done though.<br><br>Chris

 

Figured it out. Found pieces of O ring in the bucket of coolent, so pulled the stem out (it is 1/4 turn) , replaced the O ring, and am now reassembling. Hasn't started raining yet so I'll keep on it. Thanks for the help John

 

New one on me. I'll remember that when I get around to my cooling system.<br><br>Glad you got it fixed.<br><br>Chris

 

Old thread, wish I had read it before. Just spent the afternoon draining flushing, replacing the water pump, replacing the thermostat, have to run in the morning and the darn petcock is leaking out my Cummins half and half ready mix. :'(

 

Ok had to drain it all out, lost a little trying to get it to flow. Pulled the drain and it had no O ring on it. A little tip if someone gets hung up on that O ring. The dipstick tube O ring for a 727 fits it. That generally means that almost any dipstick tube O ring for an automatic will fit the drain for the radiator. Used to rebuild transmissions here and still have a few boxes of misc stuff that I keep for such situations.

Got it back running and lost about a half gallon in the process, had an extra gallon, whew

 

[quote author=Haulin in Dixie link=board=13;threadid=11011;start=0#msg182350 date=1063092593]
Pulled the drain and it had no O ring on it. A little tip if someone gets hung up on that O ring. The dipstick tube O ring for a 727 fits it. [/quote]

&quot;...had no O ring on it.&quot; Are you saying it had never had an O ring? If so why hadn't it always been leaking? If it did, what happened to it?

I'm getting ready to change coolant, thermostat, hoses and serpentine belt and want to have all the parts I may need before I start. I usually end up having to make an extra trip to town for some little thing - like an O ring. :'( Do you happen to know the size of the O ring so that I can get one whether I need it or not? I know it's not expensive but I'd rather get it at a hardware store than a dealer. (I'm stingy) Besides the hardware store is only 5 miles away and the dealer is 22 miles.

TIA Stan