[johncc]

I'm planning to do a heatplate removal on my car, and having read the old threads I have a few questions, including one really stupid one:

Where actually is the coolant drain plug on the engine block? I've managed to get away without knowing so far, but the Haynes picture is worse than useless! It's just a non-descript bit of engine with a non-descript hex head bolt. I looked once before, but I didn't want to go undoing random bolts waiting to find one with coolant behind it!

My other (slightly less dumb) questions are:

Do you actually need to remove some coolant to do the job? Someone mentioned 4 litres.

Can anyone who got a short bolt from Saab give me a good enough description to take to a fastener supplier and get a set?

Failing that I'll probably try Adrian's trick of cutting them down and filing a chamfer.

 

[mark e]

Hi John,

Unless your car is post 1994 (which from your profile it doesn't appear to be) there won't be a heater plate to remove

If there is, however, then the part nos for the non heatplate bolts are 81 25 197. They should come as a set of 8.

I don't see any need to drain coolant, you should be able to separate the throttle body (which does have hoses on it) from the manifold.

Ref drain plug, I dunno where it is either

but I've never found a need to remove it. Removing the drian plug gets most of the coolant out then a few flushes with fresh water normally sorts things (remove the stat and start the engine briefly between each fill for a thorough flush)

If you're goignto do Adrian's trick, make sure you fit a nut before cutting them off to help reform the thread.

 

[johncc]

Oops! Just updated my profile... thanks for that!

I was hoping (being a cheapskate) to get a description along the lines of "M8*40 flange head" or similar that I could take to a general supplier, rather than pay Saab dealer prices

And to avoid making a trip to a dealer to get one to take in to copy...

However, I just asked the place I usually go to and it sounds like that type of head is usually a special order, so I think I'll try Adrian's trick. Thanks for the warning.

 

[billj]

My Saab dealer's parts guy advised me that the non-heatplate manifold is different. He didn't know whether the flange would be a different thickness so couldn't say for sure the non-heatplate bolts would be the right length for the job anyway. He advised me to use washers under the head of the bolt, equivalent to the thickness of the heat plate. That's what I did, but cutting the bolts would also work and give a neater job.