dualblade

always thought dumping the coolant in our cars was such a pain in the ***. never found a drain plug so i just pulled the lower radiator hose off which did the job but made a mess as well. got my radiator out and noticed a spot where there was silicon with green around the edges. obviously coolant was getting past this patch job and so that was where my coolant leak was coming from (i always had a slight intermittant one). figure i'd rip the silicon up to see the damage under there and when i did, i found a broken off bottom half of the drain plug. was able to get it out pretty easily - drilled 2 holes next to each other and used a flathead screwdriver to twist it out. when the car goes back together, cooling system should be much better. ah, previous owners....

any of you have a "why the heck did they do this" p.o. story to share?

PCMAX

I have a "why the heck did they make that drain plug out of brittle plastic" story though. Mine snapped off whilst trying to remove it one night. I had to drill the centre & use an ezy out to screww the thing out, then I go to my Porsche parts ditributor & find that these things are rare as rocking horse sh*t. Ended up having a friend make me one from a piece of nylon rod.
dualblade,
Where did you buy your replacement drain plug??

Cass944

im pretty sure the drain plug is made out of plastic so that it will brake every time you take it out. your probly thinking thats stupid but at the same time it makes sure that the threads in your radiator break NO times. because replacing that would be a sucky sucky thing.

you can get them from porsche dealers for a couple bucks... like 6. the dealer up here in milwaukee actually had them in stock and everything.

Epic2112

when mine broke I just went to a nearby Porsche mech and he gave me one that he had sitting around. Now I keep a spare handy.

flamingeye

Think I've posted this pic. previously. (I do apologise)
Mine broke immediately! luckily I was at the workshop and made one from nylon, which shouldn't snap next time.

PCMAX

The spares guy at the Porsche Center in Sydney told me that they weren't available not even from Germany. I thought it was a bit strange but i had to accept it.
I wish I had the spares resources that you guys have over there.

Dave951M

This part breaks so easily it's a good idea to keep several on hand, just in case.

dualblade

is it a bad idea to use a metal one? i figured i'd just get whatever the closest brass air tool fitting was and use my die to get it down to the right size. i also have to do this for the nipple towards the top. that nipple was plugged with the silicon used to "seal" the broken plug. makes me wonder what else is plugged up inside that radiator (hopefully nothing)

also, the sensor in the radiator (i forget what it's called, the one for the fans) has metal threads and i dont' really see a plastic/metal combo seizing

Zero10

I have a bolt in place of my drain plug. It just has a big O-ring on it. I always take it easy, and torque it to 8lb/ft. I don't think it will ever strip like that.

I would be interested in replacement plastic plugs, if they were cheap enough, I would just keep a few around, like oil drain plug crush washers!

amfp

I removed the bottom hose to drain the water. Was concerned about the plastic plug. There is also a block drain, but decided to just run distilled water and a couple of times until thought all was rather drainage was fresh, plus ran heater during process. Yes to me was a pain, especially with the bleeding.

Cyrus951

My po also filled my drain plug with silicone lol...

Sam Lin

The drain plugs are still available from Porsche. I'm not near them to get the part number for you, but I've ordered a couple from Sunset Porsche before.

Sam

Zero10

944 106 353 00 -86 drain plug
944 106 353 01 87- drain plug
944 106 354 00 Sealing ring, the same for all drain plugs
944 105 131 00 While you're at it, get the cam inspection hole plug too! Nobody has one of these, lol

Hope those numbers help.
I took a quick look online, and I did not see the drain plugs listed on either pelican or paragon.

theedge

Ive bought one before from the local place here. They stock them.

I dont use the drain hole though, ive found the hose to be neater The drain hole gets some pressure and distance going, hose doesnt.

dualblade

where is the block drain?

also, thanks for the part numbers guys but unless it's unsafe, i'd rather replace the plug with something that will hold up better. i like to reengineer these cars little by little as i work on them