Anybody fooled with freeze plugs lately?

[Roswell Rat]

Well, I found my mysterious coolant leak this past weekend. After stripping manifolds off the block to prepare for a header install, I thought I'd snoop around parts of the motor I had never laid eyes on previously. Right before me eyes three of the four large freeze plugs on the side of the block were weeping coolant!!! This was the last thing I expected. Anyway, everything is out of the way on the motor with plenty of real estate to get to the freeze plugs. But since I've never tackled this before I thought I'd get some firsthand experience from some folks out there.

Oh yeah, this is my first post on the board, even though I've been slumming in the background for a while. I've got a '87 FJ60 with 174k and I'm out in rust-free New Mexico.

Thanks in advance for the input.

Jayson

 

[jhstatts]

Wow... we are in the twilight zone. I have a '87 FJ60 with 162k and am in rust-free Georgia... the kicker is my name is Jason. Would yours happen to be white?

Sorry, I have no information to offer about your post. Good luck with it.

 

[vtcruiser60]

I am from Vermont, where we only dream of rust-free.

I have popped freeze plugs before, once correctly, and twice incorrectly. The thing to do is to make sure you have enough room to work and a lot of patience. With a sharp prybar or a flat head screwdriver you can try to pry a lip on the edge of the plug. Grab the lip with a pair of needle nose pliers and pull. OR, you could tap/drill a hole in the center of the plug (for the love of god don't poke too deeply) then pry the plug out without scraping the inside of the jacket. Buff the plug without dropping too many filings into the jacket and replace.

Oh....drain your coolant first.

Rust free.....Jesus talk about kicking a guy when he is down. -