broncobilly

Hello all!,
On my way home from work today, I noticed smoke emitting from under the hood. I pulled over; and put the truck in neutral (with emergency brake on), to see if I had a trans line leak (A518). I had some trans leaking problems in the past, but not this time. Not too long ago; I put in pre-luber. So; I figured with my luck, that's probably whats leaking! I was only a 1/2 mile from home, on a country road (with no cell). I got back in the truck and limped it home at 40 mph. The temp gauge was at about the half mark. When I popped the hood and cleared the smoke, I could see a freeze plug fell out (second from front). The pre-luber plumbing was fine. The valve covers were very hot to the touch.

So; now I am wondering what damage did I do to the engine? It was about 24 degree's today in SE WI, so I guess that helped a little I know I lost quite a bit of antifreeze! I hope the head didn't get warped? I think I will now be using those screw retained freeze plugs, like sled pullers etc. use.

Richie O

It most likely did not help it. If it were my luck it would be junk. I have cooked a couple of motors trying to limp home. But thats coming from someone who has been seen draging my rear tires ( blown rear end ) with the front tires. I almost made it home.

Field_boss_cb

I think it will be ok from what you said the gauge was doing. One of the worse things an operator can do in that situation is to add coolant at the time the engine is hot and the engine not running. It will crack the block or cylinder head.

deerslayer1979

Your gauge won't be accurate if you were that low on coolant. They only read the engine temp if when they are covered in coolant. I don't think you hurt it but you won't know until you fill it with coolant again and try it. Might be worth it to have the whole cooling system pressure checked, that means the cap too.
DS79

77machomopar

I had my freeze plugs blow out just a couple weeks ago. i put in a rubber expansion plug and it held. I had run them before for years and never had problems. I ordered it form Napa. Its a dorman product. Its a 2 3/8"- 2.5"(I think) plug made for the 2005 Ford Ranger and Taurus 6 cylinder engines

Machinos

I overheated the hell out of my beat-up old slant six when the water pump seized. I didn't even realize it had overheated until it started making horrible pre-ignition noises. The engine got through it just fine though, and I'm sure it's not nearly as tough as a cummins.

Richie O

A 225 slant six would run without oil or water. The best engine " Dodge " ever made.

deerslayer1979

X2
DS79



I needed more letters

TractorMike

its never good when you see white smoke comin out from under the truck, i've had that happen to me several of times.. i dont think ya hurt it.. my truck has a way with blowin heater hoses goin down the interstate with no where to pull off. i blowed one on the interstate pullin a gooseneck trailer, drove it about 5 miles to the tractor supply with it blowin white smoke.. the temp guage started goin up but i was able to make it to the store and get it patched up and went on my way.. still runs fine

broncobilly

Richie,
With my luck (if I didn't have bad luck I wouldn't have any); I probably damaged the engine! I will find out when I put in a new freeze plug, and fire it up again I just replaced all the freeze plugs during the summer, as well as the block heater. I put Permatex black on around the edge of the plugs, before I tapped them in. They all went in straight. I have replace freeze plugs before on small block Chevy's and Ford's, and never had any problems popping plugs?

Richie O

I have limited experiance with freeze plugs also. I have done them in small block chevys, a 440 dodge and a couple 4 cyl fords. I saw one post saying put rubber plugs in. I have had those pop out on me. I tried 2 different ones and the engine popped them out both times. The problem with loosing water from one of those plugs is it draines the water from the upper half of the motor. The head has no cooling as well as the upper cylinder block. The water pump grabs air and stops pumping water. Also as stated above the temp gauge won't read correctly when the sender is out of the coolant. Good luck.

w250_93

Pressure check it before you fire it up cause if it's still got the original head gasket you might have blown it ( when they get old they get weak) and it might mix coolant with the oil and screw up the motor before you figure it out.

You also might want to take a center punch and pickle the block around the outside edge of the freeze plugs so they don't come out so easy but not too much because it might not be able to do its job when the coolant freezes.

Has anybody ever thought of relocating the temp sending unit.

broncobilly

Can some one give me input on how to do the pressure testing procedure? I am a fairly good mechanic, have done a lot of repairs, but never did a pressure test. Oh; I pressure tested a radiator in auto shop class, back in high school in the mid 80's.

Richie O

It is a pump with a gauge that replaces your radiator cap. It lets you pump pressure and then watch the gauge for leak down. The pressure should not leak down.

broncobilly

Ritchie,
Thanks for the info on the pressure test! I'm just looking for a steady pressure reading on the gauge, got it. Any idea on how much pressure I should get the pump up to? I will see if I can locate my FSM (service manual) and find out.