pf100

Hi everybody. First post here. My daughter just bought a '98 Acura TL 3.2L and the head gaskets are definitely leaking. It's blowing coolant out like a geyser at yellowstone park out of the top of the radiator with the cap off if you rev it up. It runs great otherwise. The car was bought from a guy who replaced the heater core and he didn't bleed the coolant system and the car was overheated twice (at least). I bled the cooling system for over two hours by letting it idle and the bubbles never stopped coming out of the top of the radiator. That was with using a funnel sealed in the hole at the top of the radiator so the water level was a foot higher than the radiator and the bubbles never stopped coming out. So I'm 99.9999% sure the head gasket(s) are leaking.
Now to my problem. I cannot get the coolant drain bolt out of the block. I know where it is behind the alternator. I have the factory service manual. I've been trying all day and that sucker is stuck like I can't believe. I've been using a 1/2" drive 6 point 19 mm socket with a breaker bar over a foot long and if I put any more torque on it I'm going to break the coolant drain bolt off in the block. If the engine was out I could get it out with a torch, but I'm not going to remove the engine.
So my question is, how can I get as much of the coolant out as possible without taking that bolt out? I don't want to take the heads off and have a gallon of coolant going into the bottom end.
I found these threads about stuck coolant drain bolts but they're not helpful in my case, they just say to drain as much out with the radiator as possible and they're just about changing the coolant, not replacing the head gaskets:
https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-tl-p...g-bolt-749680/
https://acurazine.com/forums/first-g...-3-2-a-616936/
Somebody please help me. I'm about to pack it in for the day. I've been at this all day. Will all the coolant drain out if I take the water pump off, because I'm going to replace it as part of the job. Any hints or tips would be much appreciated. Thanks.

pf100

I solved the problem. Mods, please edit the thread title to: [Solved] Replacing head gaskets can't remove coolant drain bolt '98 3.2l
Here's how I got the coolant drain bolt loose. I got a 3 foot long piece of iron bar, held it against the edge of coolant bolt so if it moved it would turn in the correct direction to loosen it, and I hit the iron bar with a small sledge hammer. It didn't move, but then after doing that I tried again with my pry bar and 19mm socket and it broke loose and I got it off. The bolt wasn't damaged. I took a picture of the removed coolant bolt that I'll post later. I don't recommend that you do this because bad things could happen, but it worked for me.

pf100

Here's the picture of the coolant bolt. Sorry, I got a bad angle so you can't see down into where the bolt was removed from.

pf100

More thoughts: after I drained the coolant and before I put the coolant drain plug (bolt) back in, I put anti-seize on the threads and crush washer, and tightened it snug (but nowhere near loose) with a 3/8" drive ratchet and socket. From past experience, a steel bolt in aluminum threads tightens more over time due to dissimilar metals, and I'd like to be able to take the drain plug out again whenever necessary. After replacing the head gaskets and driving the car I'll keep an eye on the coolant drain plug for leaks and tighten it more if needed but I doubt I'll have a problem with it ever again.. I'll return to this thread to update it to let everyone know how the anti-seize compound worked out after I get the car running and I've driven it a bit. You know how I know I will? Because I will never forget this coolant drain plug for the rest of my life :-) Almost a full day to remove one bolt!
P.S. I've got two full days of work in this car now, and I still don't have the heads off yet. I'm taking my time and doing it right, double-checking everything and marking every hose and connector so there'll be no doubt of what goes where when I have to put it back together. Maybe tomorrow (the 3rd day) I'll have the heads off and stripped down and ready to go to the machine shop to have the heads surfaced. You know what they say about not having enough time to do it right the first time but always time to do it twice when you didn't do it right the first time? Well, I plan on not doing it twice. Slow and easy is the plan. I want to repair this car perfectly.