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engine drain plugs
...are best left alone (in my humble opinion) UNLESS they are ALREADY(!!!!!!) LEAKING (and it is no fun when you are leaking from the block!) because you will get 99% of any solids out of the system when you backflush (or "just" flush) the system. Go ahead & flush away! Once the old anti-freeze is out of there you can use one of the radiator flush products per the directions, then flush away. You can even drive it around with just the water in it until it warms up and then drain and flush it, again. After you drain it the last time put in enough 100% anti-freeze to approximately 50% of the total capacity (7.4 quarts) and then fill with H20. I've used 1 gallon (which works out to 54%) of anti-freeze and have never seen anything but clean green when I drain it. I do this every 2 years in the Fall and don't ever remember seeing the temp gauge ever going past the normal middle of the range. Living in Oregon we don't see much 90+ or under 20 degree weather so I can't really claim this works as well in Phoenix or Fairbanks... Those guys are much more environmentally "challenged". When it is on sale with a rebate I buy the green stuff for about a net cost of $3 per gallon, so it costs less than an home oil change with a quality oil. I am a firm believer that this also extends the water pump life. Mighty cheap to replace one when you are replacing the timing belt vs. when stranded on the road with a blown radiator and a toasted tranny.
Good luck!
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