block heater -> HELP! dropped a freeze plug

[stefan]

how hard would it be to install one with the engine in the car?
what about those rad hose heaters? are they any good? or the ones that you hook into the heater hoses and it preheats and pumps the coolant.

[wrestler3025]

It should be pretty easy to install one in the car. There are freeze plugs are right in front that aren't too tough to get to.

[gdawgs]

It's not hard to do. The frost plug type are the best. You just drain the anti-freeze, knock out the frost plug(the directions tell you which one to use, I can't remember which one it was) insert the heater and tighten up the bolt.

If you accidentally drop the frost plug into the block, you can get it out with one of those telescopic magnets. But try not to drop it in.

[stefan]

cool, thats what i was wondering... dose it matter which freeze plug i use? could i get away with using one on the front?

[25Horseplay]

My Festiva has one, I could look where its installed.

[fastivaca]

The one on my B3 was on the back, the B6 has it on the front....

[F3BZ]

don't know why but all the directions that come with block heaters for the 1.3 say to mount it in a freeze plug location that is on the firewall side of the engine. i think it was the second one in from the divers side.

[stefan]

anyone have experience with the after-market ones? cambodian tire has them, you can look it up in a book to figure out which one is supposed to fit your motor. i dbout it would say which plug to use.
any tips on knocking out the freeze plug?

[monkeyracing]

There's a couple of ways to pull out a freeze plug, that I know of anyway. One is to punch a small hole in the middle of it, then take something that can hook inside of it and yank it out. The other way is to take a fairly pointy screwdriver and dent in the edge of it. Once it's dented in a bit, you can use pliers to pull it.

Jim

[gdawgs]

Yes I have installed an aftermarket one without having any problems. As far as getting the frost plug out, they are made out of pretty thick steel, so punching a hole in it probably won't happen. All you need to do is place a screwdriver toward the edge and whack it with a hammer. The plug will rotate, then you can grab it with a pliers.

When placing the screwdriver, be sure to keep it inside the plug, don't place it on the lip. If you place it on the rim you'll scratch up the engine block which could cause leaks.

Not sure if what I just described makes sense or not. The frost plug is kind of shaped like a bowl. Keep the screwdriver at the bottom of the bowl, not on top of the rim. But place in right next to the rim. Should make sense when you look at it.

[stefan]

HELP! i dropped the plug into the block!!! eeek!!!!!!!!!! what can i do? i dont know what you mean by telescopic magnet. its a maze in there, i tried feeling around inside the hole. what can i do?!?!???????

it was going soo good, i had it rotated, and i had vicegrips locked on but when i was really yanking on it trying to get it out it slipped!

[monkeyracing]

Yikes!!! This is a tough one. What they mean by telescopic magnet is one of those magnets on the end of a telescoping rod that looks kind of like a radio antenna. In this case, it will probably be tough to get it into the cavity, because of the angles involved.

I have a couple of ideas, they might not work, but they're ideas.

1. Magnet on a string. This one's iffy, because the magnet will want to stick to the block. Drop it in, see what happens.
2. Magnet on a piece of stiff wire, like a coat hanger, or solid core electrical wire. This can get you past the drawbacks of the string method, but may reduce flexibility somewhat.
3. Something sticky on the end of a stiff wire. (Make sure it's secure!!! You don't want anything else stuck in there.)

If you've got one of those inspection mirrors (a small one anyway) see if you can position it to see down into the cavity to get an idea of what you're dealing with first.

I really hope this helps you out. I hate being stuck in that sort of situation.

Jim

[festivaWES]

It couldn't of fell that far....i think the magnet on a string is your best bet....

[Damkid]

my friend who works at a garage has this thing where it's flexible and has a magnet on the end, if you could find one that'd probably work the best for yeah

[Dave G]

It's probably OK to just leave it there - it's only in the water jacket, after all, not in with moving parts :-)