plugs are all brand new AC Delco. i have also double checked the order aswell. i'm about to go try filling up the rad again to see if i get water in the cylinder again. (8:00 PM EST)

I've seen the cylinders be wet enough that they wet the new plugs.

Litterally had to use the compressor to dry out the cylinders using some vacuum hose on the end of the compressor nozzle to get into the cylinders.

yeah I had to blow it all out really good and i sacrificed another 4L jug of oil and a filter. now its running again!!! I have straight water in the cooling system atm so i still have to drain and put in some prestone. thanks alot for the advice everyone you have made my life alot easier. In the end i probably spent in the neighborhood of $500 for everything. plugs, wires (took them out so many times for this job that they literally fell apart), coolant, oil x 3, filter x 3, UIM, lower and upper gasket sets, and 2 cases of beer. I was wondering if anyone would suggest putting oil detergent in the engine because it was full of water and coolant, or do you think it will be fine. I just want to make sure that everything stays ok. well back outside while i still have some daylight. thanks again guys!

ok she is running great once again. it loves the new 80 degree thermostat and runs much cooler now. one thing i couldn't do that i wanted was to get all of the water out of the car. I drained the rad and added prestone to it but I couldn't seem to find the drain plug for the engine block to completely drain the system of all the water i added. although I know that i can get my mixture right if i keep draining some of the coolant and adding straight to it but i would rather flush the entire system.

I read that thread in techinfo but it says nothing of how but it assumes that you already have the coolant in it that you want to use premixed which i don't. please someone tell me how to drain my 3.8L series || K-Vin engine'* coolant system. I have the chilton service manual but it shows a vague picture that may not even be my engine and says its "on top of the oilpan". but there is no referance to the year or type of engine.

lemme know what you think i should do so i can end this thread and stop losing sleep over my ride.

To completely drain it, you need to pull the knock sensors. This is not easy to do. But to get a good coolant mix, you can do less. There is a procedure for coolant fill for the L36 in Techinfo. http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...=article&k=100 That procedure helps to eliminate trapped air in the cooling system. Please read that first.

There is probably an easier way to do this, but here is one way to fill your engine to achieve a 50/50 mix. First, remove the thermostat and drill a 1/16-inch hole in the thermostat flange. Drain most of the engine and all of the radiator by disconnecting the lower radiator hose. Disconnect the heater hoses and blow into one of them to displace the coolant out the other hose. That will get rid of all the water you can without pulling the knock sensors. Maybe two or three quarts of water will remain in the block.

Techinfo says the cooling system capacity is 13 quarts. Assuming you have pure water in there now, you need to add 6.5 quarts of pure coolant. I'm going to guess and say the capacity of the radiator is about 4 quarts, the heater core and hoses 1.5 quarts, the recovery tank 2 quarts, and the remainder, 5.5 quarts, in the engine. The exact values don't matter so much as long as you get 6.5 quarts of pure coolant in the system.

Start with two gallon jugs of pure coolant and one empty gallon jug. Pour half a gallon of coolant into the gallon jug and add a half gallon of water. You will now have 6 quarts of pure coolant and 4 quarts of 50/50 mix.

First, with both heater hoses disconnected from the tensioner assembly, fill the heater core and hoses with pure coolant. When the heater core and hoses are full, attach them to the tensioner assembly and secure the clamps.

Next, add pure coolant to the block through the thermostat opening. There will be a good bit of pure water in the block that does not drain when the lower hose is disconnected. Let'* assume that will mix with about the same amount of coolant in the block. Keep adding coolant until the level reaches the lip of the thermostat recess.

Next, add pure coolant to the radiator watching the thermostat opening carefully so that it does not overflow. If the radiator is not full by the time you have added 5.5 quarts of pure coolant, add pure water to the radiator until it is full. You should see a lot of air bubbles come up at the thermostat opening as you add fluid to the radiator. When the coolant begins to rise out of the thermostat opening, install the drilled thermostat and the top radiator hose. Then keep filling the radiator slowly. Pump the top radiator hose with your hand to expel air from the hose. Wait a few minutes, then add some more until the level reaches the hole for the recovery tank hose.

Fill the coolant recovery tank with two quarts of 50/50 mix or enough to fill at least two inches above the full hot line.

After bleeding according to the directions in the Techinfo article, and after a few days of mixing in the system, open the radiator cold and test the coolant concentration.

Where are the two knock sensors on a 99 n/a?

They are approximately in the middle of the block on the front and back side and difficult to remove and replace.