How do I empty the coolant from the system. Is there a little tap like on some other cars, or is it just a case of pulling of the right hose??. The how do I refill the system ensuring no air locks?? hope someone can help - (#341) Bob Amabile, 22 Jun 01

There's a tap at the bottom of the rad- on mine, it's the front drivers side of it. CR30 4x4 autos also have another rad under the floor at the front, there's a tap at the front of it also. The block has a drain, but I wouldn't risk trying to undo it, 90% will drain through the rad drain anyway.
To refil, turn the heater on, ond fill through the rad cap. When full, run the engine for a bit, then recheck. Then put on the cap. - (#344) David Miller, 23 Jun 01

Having a Townace with 4WD there is a very accessible drain for the coolant under the front of the horizontal radiator. Is there any point opening those on the engine block and the main radiator?
Even using the diagram in the RM025E manual I can't find the drain on the block and I note David Miller's advice to not risk opening it anyway. I suspect the block drains through the jiggle valve in the thermostat, even if rather slowly.
The main radiator drain is certainly hard to get at. It's on the driver's side, rear of the radiator. You look up just behind the rubber boot on the end of the steering rack. But you need a small hand to turn the plug. Remove the steel plate under the steering rack (5 bolts) and you can just get one hand/finger tip in from each side - especially for final tightening, but that'll depend how the "wing" ends up.
My conclusion was to only use the front drain for flushing/draining, waiting for the last trickle with the car tilted slightly down at the front. The drain under the main radiator gave no significant advantage, certainly not worth the effort. - (#1209) Dave Mason, 9 Oct 01

The front rad drain will not empty the whole system, it connects partway up the main rad.
best way to drain is probably to pull off the bottom hose at the thermostat (under the expansion tank) - (#1210) david Miller, 9 Oct 01

For flushing you don't need to actually empty the whole system. By the time I'd opened the drain under the main rad I'd already driven around with clean water in the system and drained it from the front for 20 minutes or so. So all that came out of the main rad was a disappointing couple of cupfuls at most, of clean water.
Another experimental result is regarding re-filling, especially reading the end of Mark's amazing story on the home page of this site. I've deliberately refilled the cooling system slowly - a trickle, taking about 5 minutes. Then checked after it cooled after a run for any evidence of airlocks. Each time it looked as if the system had behaved itself, when filled slowly at least, and needed only an extra cupful or so. - (#1222) Dave Mason, 11 Oct 01