Question about freeze plugs

stumiister

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I have the tool and the OE Ford freeze plugs Im installing the freeze plug behind the oil cooler. I want to know if i should give the one plug to the rear of the oil cooler a few whacks with the tool or should I just install a new one and how do I remove the old ones to install the new ones?
 

Hydro-idi

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This is a good question for icanfixall. I hear it is a very tricky job when messing with the freeze plugs in these engines.
 

stumiister

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I know it is, I've had several pop out on me but when I installed them I didnt have the tool. Now I have the tool and the plugs to do this job right.
 

icanfixall

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Remove all the crappy off brand plugs or be doing this job one more time. Clean out the lands that the plug sits in. Use a sealant to keep the plug from leaking. I didn't use any sealant once but used the special tool and the factory oem plugs. I tested with 30 lbs of air pressure and soap.. No leaks... Till about 6 months later... Pulled engine again to replace all 7 plugs but this time I used permatex avaitation cement on the plugs. Do it right the first time and never have to do it again. No amount to wacking a plug that is not a factory oem plug will make it a factory oem plug. Lok how long they lasted as oem plugs... Thats increditable life... Drill a 3/8 inch hole in the old plug and pry it out.. Or thread it and use a slide hammer you make up yourself...
 

stumiister

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Thanks Gary btw i just tried to call you about this, I didnt want to have to put yet another freeze plug thread on here!
 

icanfixall

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I remember that writeup with the great pics Robert. I also recall why you did this job twice. You were lucky to have Evans no pressure waterless coolant in the engine. Had there been pressure on the cooling system you surely would have blown out the flywheel freeze plug... No telling what damage that would have done to the clutch and wheel. Surely with no coolant in the engine you would have no idea about the heat buildup because there would have been no coolant seeing the temp senders. Thats why I continued driving my rig up the grapevine pass... Untill I got past 330 degrees oil temps. Then the engine knocked from hot oil in the lifters and the pistons scuffing the bores leaving aluminum on them....
 

RLDSL

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I remember that writeup with the great pics Robert. I also recall why you did this job twice. You were lucky to have Evans no pressure waterless coolant in the engine. Had there been pressure on the cooling system you surely would have blown out the flywheel freeze plug... No telling what damage that would have done to the clutch and wheel. Surely with no coolant in the engine you would have no idea about the heat buildup because there would have been no coolant seeing the temp senders. Thats why I continued driving my rig up the grapevine pass... Untill I got past 330 degrees oil temps. Then the engine knocked from hot oil in the lifters and the pistons scuffing the bores leaving aluminum on them....

Yup, that evans is handy stuff. The morons at the machine shop who put my plugs in the first time screwed up big time. I was PISSED, we were on vacation at silver Doller City and came out to the parking lot at the end of the day to find coolant pouring out of the dang freeze plug , and like you say, that was with no pressure on it, but I got the leak stoppped with a couple tubes of alumaseal long enough to drive it back home over the ozarks, 5er and all. It was kind of fun once I got home safe and sound though, Thankfully, I saw it before we got in the truck so I was able to top it off and run straight to the nearest parts store for sealer and emergency coolant ( you can top off evans with straight low tox in a jam so I bought every drop of teh stuff in Branson before we headed back home LOL I I had run on with it low , it would have been all over but the cryin), I put a pressure cap on it and fired it up to see what would have happened if I'd have had a pressure cap, and before it even got up to operating temp, it shot that sucker clean out of the back of the block LOL ... of course when I tore the engine down and found all the other stuff they did wrong on that engine I was REALLY fit to be tied :backoff

I've been looking at an extra fitting I have in my upper hose and I'm thinking of adding a surge tank. I can get those new that fit some Volvo 960s and they have a real neat water sensor built into the tank on those things, makes for a real easy low water warning device , plus with the lack of decent zero pressure caps now, its easier to convert those caps to a proper zero pressure cap and then seal the cap on the rad.
 

icanfixall

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Robert. A few years back Cadallic claimed they could drive their engine for 50 or so miles with no coolant in the engines. How can that be done. Did they have a liquid nitrgen tank that allowed it to cource thru the block pulling heat out of the engine. How can an engine run for about an hour with no coolant in it and was it ruined in 50 miles.. I still wonder about the claim.. If that was a system we could adapt to our engines or any engine for that matter I think it would be a money maker...
 
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