What are the bars across the engine and can I remove one

FRUSTRATED DAVE

MEMBER
2002 BUICK CENTURY
97,000 MILES

This is my daughters car. There is a bar on both the driver and passenger side that goes over the engine. I am draining the coolant in order to replace the hoses, but cannot get to the petcock very easily from either the top or bottom. The air cleaner box is located directly under one of these bars what happens if I move one of these bars to remove the air box? Is there an easier way to get to the petcock. If there is I do not see it. Thank you.

3 Replies

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,752 POSTS

The car will fold up like a road map if you remove those bars!

Well, okay; not really. They are there to stiffen the body and prevent it from flexing on bumpy roads. The engineers expect you to remove them to service the car. It is one of their design characteristics that makes some jobs take longer than on other car brands.

Mechanics avoid the radiator petcocks whenever possible. For about the last twenty years, the valves are made of plastic, and they have rubber o-rings that seal up against plastic. It is real common for those o-rings to be cut or the plastic to crack when they are closed. Also, many of those o-rings are deformed and they do not stretch out when removed. They can be too stiff when they are cold to flex and seal when the valve is closed. It is real common to end up with a leak that drips a drop of coolant about once every five seconds. The fix for that is to replace the radiator. Every shop owner has stories related to their experience with this problem. You are better off just removing the lower radiator hose if you want to drain the coolant.