Drain Coolant

[mumur]

Helping to check cylinder condition on a used 850 that a friend bought from a rental place. We drained as much coolant as we could out of the reservoir by swapping the lowest hose on it with one going into a catch, but we couldn't get it out of the head that way. We ended up just opening the head up hoping it had drained out of the head (when the big line out of it was clear), but it had not. Any tips for the future there? Is there a secret coolant drain bolt somewhere to drain the block? Would rather not need to desperately clean out the cylinders any time it's opened up.

 

[volcano buster]

Not sure if this engine is different, but I always pull the bag out of my wet/dry shop vac and give it a whirl. Pulls just about all the fluid out and I am left with minimal mess.

 

[die hard poo]

Ya I bought a small, dedicated shop vac, I then elevate the front of the sled and then open the coolant bottle and stick the hose into the bottle and suck out all the coolant. I then crack the bleed on the head and continue to suck it out till it is empty. Usually gets most of it out of the engine. I then leave the front elevated while I work on the engine.

 

[tuneman]

This is how I do it on my 800, which you should be able to do the same on the 850. You might be able to do the same on one of the upper hoses of the coolant bottle, but someone with 850 experience needs to respond to that:

Remove coolant hose on top of head. For 800s, just remove the thermostat housing bolts and remove thermostat. Stick the hose end in a clean bucket(if you want to reuse the coolant). Get your shop vac, switch it to blow instead of suck(some smaller shop vacs may not have this feature). Put a filter material over the nozzle(an old t-shirt works) and blow right into the engine. All of the coolant will come out of the hose and into your bucket.