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  • Coolant Leaking

    I have been mysteriously losing coolant for quite a while. I changed the radiator, water pump, it was still going away. I noticed I was low again so I poured more in and was letting it idle, cap off, to let the new stuff circulate and make sure it was full. It heated up so I put the cap on. As soon as I did that I noticed a very thin stream of coolant shooting through the grill opening. I had seen that before and thought it was coming from the rad, which is why I put in a new one. I had to get down inside there with a mirror and light. In the center of the filthy block, under the exhaust manifold, there seems to be a 1 1/2'' freeze plug from which the tiny stream was coming from, must have rusted through.
    Anybody ever fix one of these?

  • #2
    I've replaced freeze plugs, but not on these cars. You can knock it out and tap in a new one. If it still leaks, the block is rusted, but you could probably drill it out to the next size freeze plug
    A mechanic knows how; A technician knows why.

    Wrecked. Repairs in Progress"Frankie" 1957 Chevrolet 3100, NA 2bbl 283cuin, Muncy Granny 4sp, 3.90 Open Diff @ ~95K miles

    Wrecked. Repairs in Progress"Alice" 1991 Ford Festiva L, NA EFI B3, 5sp @150k miles

    Reassembling"Aurora" 1991 Ford Festiva L, NA EFI B3, 5sp @240k miles

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    • #3
      You probably will need to get the exhaust manifold out of the way.
      |Drain the coolant
      Put a dish under the block.
      Tap one edge of the bad plug to make it pivot.
      Grab the plug with some pliers and pull it out.
      Clean where the new plug will be tapped in.
      Apply silicone to the rim of the plug and edge of the hole.
      Position plug and cover with a piece of wood.
      Drive plug straight in and evenly with a hammer.
      Re-fill coolant.
      Install exhaust.
      Zoom zoom.

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      • #4
        Lucky it wasn't a rear one, denguy! :-)

        Good tutorial there, brave.
        90 Festy (Larry)--B6M (Matt D. modified B6 head), header, 5-speed, Capri XR2 front brakes, many other little mods
        09 Kia Rondo--a Festy on steroids!

        You can avoid reality, but you can't avoid the consequences of avoiding reality--Ayn Rand

        Disaster preparedness

        Tragedy and Hope.....Infowars.com.....The Drudge Report.....Founding Fathers.info

        Think for yourself.....question all authority.....re-evaluate everything you think you know. Red-pill yourself!

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        • #5
          I picked up one of those NAPA expanding rubber plugs to go in hole. They get good reviews on internet forums.

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          • #6
            Have an expanding plug on a 94 s10 4.3 Ben on there 2 years with no prob and it is on the drivers side under ext manifold. I think u would b good to go

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            • #7
              Tell ya a little secret........I couldn't get the old cup out from inside the block so I left it in there. Rather have it out, would do things different next time, but it does not look like it is blocking anything and can't move. Should have drilled a pry hole in it and popped it out, got some bad info. Well, time will tell.

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              • #8
                Anyone ever have to deal with this problem on the firewall side of the block?

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