I tried to drain the radiator on my 2011 4.0 Ranger (to replace the thermostat) and no coolant came out.

I removed the radiator cap and turned the rad drain valve as far as it seemed to go, which was 1/4 of a turn. It has a white line on it indicating the closed position, and from there it turns counter-clockwise 1/4 of a turn and stops. Perhaps I didn't turn it far enough, but I didn't want to break it.

The odd thing is that I can't find a picture of the drain valve on any Ford Ranger that looks the same. All of the ones I see are a white, plastic bolt like this:



The one on my truck (which I've never touched and I bought the truck new so it should be facotry) is black plastic and kind of like a wing nut (not bolt-shaped). It looks similar to this one:



I'm wondering if anyone has any idea if perhaps I didn't turn it far enough. Otherwise, I'm assuming that it's just clogged.

There are ~53K miles on the truck.

 

I think you need to turn that CCW until it drops out. From the picture you posted that is a plug, not a valve.

Makanak

 

On either you will need to unscrew it and then pull it out.
Over time debris will collect at the bottom of the rad and block the drain hole.

I like the white one because it loosens the debris so it will start to drain, lol.

Anyway, if it doesn't start to drain on its own stick in a wire or ?? and move it around to break up the debris to start the flow

On the white one you pull it out until it stops then squeeze the end forks together and it will pull out all the way

The black or white ones can break off, you can drain coolant using lower rad hose, that takes pressure off the drain plug, and then try unscrewing it again, it will unscrew, so take your time, push in and pull out while unscrewing it, it is plastic threads so last guy may have cross threaded it, it is easy to do.
Radiator is easy to pull out to work on, so keep that in mind if drain screw seems stuck.

 

Thanks for the replies. I wasn't in the position at the time to pull the rad hoses and lose all coolant and spill it everywhere. I was just trying to do a controlled drain of 1-2 gallons.

The picture of the black plug is just meant to depict what the visible/outside part of the plug looks like on my truck. I'm not sure if there are threads inside or not. It looks and seems to behave as a valve, which is different from the older Ranger models. Again, I bought the truck new and I'm never touched it before.

I tried sticking a wire into it but it didn't go very far (it's hard to get to the valve - one of the bolts on the skid plate just spins and I wasn't up for cutting it off, so I had to work around it - very little room to play).

I'm hoping there is someone here who has drained the rad on a 2011 and has some input.

 

I had the same issue last summer. This may be messy but I would get the big drain pan and undo your bottom hose to drain it. IDK about anyone else, but I think if you have enough crud and rust plugging that drain plug you also are not getting the kind of flow you should be getting throughout the cooling system and it could start to nickle and dime you like it did me. And seeing that you have the bottom hose off, may as well go ahead and pull the top one also and 2 bolts for the radiator and check if you have a bunch of dirt and a insect grave yard. I did all my hoses, therm twice and heater core twice only to find out the radiator was clogged inside and out. May just be cheaper to replace and flush the system. Only my 2 cents, for what it's worth