You wont get much out of them.. silly Hyundai not provide block drain plugs like other makers of days long gone by.

 

No reason you can't do a drain and refill after a short drive and do it several times to get a fair amount of new coolant into the system. I do this for a lot of the subsystem fluid systems on this car.

 

Any recommendations on antifreeze?

 

Plain old everyday lime green ethylene glycol

I mix 1 gallon coolant to 3 - 3 1/2 qt water in a clean 5 gallon pail, then run with it

 

So there definitely is not drain plugs on the block of the V6 model? The Haynes service manual indicates that on the V6 engine, there are 2 engine block drain plugs, 1 on each side of the block. Has anyone located and drained coolant through these? I would prefer to use them to ensure that I drain all of the coolant/water out while draining and flushing. Otherwise even if I flush the system several times and have clear water draining out finally, there will still be water in the block and heater core, so that when I add my 50/50 coolant mix, I'll actually have less then 50% coolant in the entire system as the water still in the block will dilute the mixture. I've reached out to Haynes to inquire about where the plugs are located specifically and if their even accessible.

 

The Haynes and Chilton manuals can be helpful. I've used both. But, it is not unusual for them to have inaccurate or misleading information. On an older vehicle like yours, which is likely to need more complex repairs/maintenance than a newer model, you should consider getting a low cost digital version of the original shop repair manual for your year and model car. There are a number of web sites where you can purchase and download a copy. I've done that for my Azera and it has been a life saver for me. I think I paid $17. I also purchased a searchable digital copy for GF's 2000 Infiniti G20. Couldn't have repaired it without the shop manual.

Good luck. Please let us know how the coolant replacement works out for you.

 

This actually is the digital version of the Haynes manual that stated this...

 

I got a one year Chilton digital manual subscription before I purchased a digital download of the shop manual; all 2,316 pages of the "Hyundai Azera Factory Service Repair Workshop Manual." Much better than the more generic Chilton's. I often print the pages related to a new project for a reference as I'm doing the job. Then, at some point, I'll forget to put a weight on the pages and have to chase them down the street.

 

If anyone has any feedback as to whether the plugs actually exist and their location on the block I would appreciate it. Also curious about whether I should dilute a higher strength coolant/water mixture (e.g. 60/40) to make up for the water already in the block that would dilute the 50/50 mixture further (if the block plugs don't exist /can't be used to drain remaining water)?

 

Anyone find these plugs? I am going to do this job on friday.

 

No plugs, do a coolant flush to get all of the coolant out.

 

Ha, when planted here, nobody gave me a choice was just dumped here, minimum wage was 50 cents per hour, alcohol antifreeze was six bucks per gallon. One trick without a thermostat was to fill it with #1 fuel oil, 20 cents per gallon. Other was to drain the block every night, petcocks were real easy, one by the radiator other on the side of the block.

Inlines only need one block drain, can be on either side, so why the side with the transaxle on it, only 3/4" of clearance, just right down mean or stupid. On V's put them right behind the motor mounts, same comment. But removing the drain plugs is not enough, thermostat blocks coolant flow, had to be removed. But also a good idea to replace them at this time.

On these newer things have an electrically heated thermostats to save this task, but like on the Hyundai, need a GDS to switch these on, so besides dropping the under engine cover, to open the radiator drain, forget about the block drain, removing the radiator cap, need a scanner to fire up that heater. If you can get at the connector, can hit that with 12V. What else helps, they don't say this is to briefly run the engine to get that water pump rotating, will pump more out.

If flushing, even more problems, disconnect as many hoses as possible and use a jury rigged leaf blower to get some more of it out. Whoever came up with 50-50 mix should be shot, will never get all the water out, course doesn't make any difference if you live on the equator, but sure not good up north, need a hydrometer to make sure your coolant is below your coldest ambient temperature.

Filling is also a problem, again that thermostat being closed, electrical heater does help this, but the old way is to start the engine to reach operating temperature, while slowing adding coolant to the radiator. Easier with a cap, you can see what you are doing, but with direct reservoir feeding, putting your faith in whatever.

Always good to measure what you get out, your owners manual state what your capacity is, if you can find with with all these common sense safety information added, Like about 400 extra pages.

Anyway, have fun. Most new coolants are good for 150K miles today, one way to avoid this problem is to trade it in.

 

Drained and flushed radiator and changed all the hoses. Only got about 1 gallon total out of the system. I drained and refilled with distilled water then ran engine until up to temp plus 10-15 minutes with heat on full blast. Shut car off and drained again. Refilled with coolant and system only took 1 gallon.

One thing to note! the radiator plug WILL NOT come out when they system is hot! I had to do second drain from lower radiator hose. After system cooled I looked at the radiator plug. It has a metal element in it so it expands when the system is hot and makes it impossible to screw it out. Pretty slick design.