a couple of weeks ago at the track i was running and thought i blew a head gasket since i was blowing coolent everywere. i took the head off and got it milled to be true ordered new gaskets and put it back on. top all the fluids and start her up. guess what it still freakin leaks. now for the fun part. it wasnt the head gasket after all. it was the freeze plug in the back of the block that had come out for whatever reason. $ 250 tow bill + $175 to mill head+ $200 for the gasket kit. all for a $ 1.67 freeze plug. lucky me. any way what would of caused this to happen ? is there anything i could do to prevent it? thanks

 

man that sucks... only time i have heard of freeze plugs comin out was from water freezing inside the block. Sorry to hear all that

 

Judge88, think of it this way.....the milled head is going to hold more power now that it is perfectly flat than if not, so it was not a waste. "Freeze plugs" are not that uncommon to come out ...same with block heaters. If the threads are ok it probably just vibrated out with the heat and cooling cycles. I doubt it got pushed out with coolant pressure. Good to hear your back in motion. ks

 

the plug is comin tommarrow. any easy way to put it in. ive taken them out but never put one back in before. any tricks to them?

 

I have read on DTR several times about the rear freeze plug failing. Do a seach and see if there is any tips.

 

not sure how much room you have to get the new freeze plug in, but i always use a socket , almost the same size as the plug, goop it up with the whit teflon stuff and smack her in flush like the rest of them. this is how i do it, maybe others have a better way.
just think of it this way, you needed to change your coolant anyway, right??
that sucks, but your good to go for another 100,000miles !!!

 

the plug is right in the back of the block between the fuel return and the bell housing. im not to sure how im gonna get it in. i was gonna use permatex copper to seal the plug with. will that work ok?

 

i had the exact same thing happen. The dealer had to pull the tranny to get in the new one

 

man i hope i dont have to pull the tranny. im not to sure but i think if i took the head back off i could get to it . i guess ill see in the morning how it goes.

 

not sure about the copper stuff,but man i think thats a real tight spot.
i think i just might be checking all of mine.

 

Several posts about this over time.All I think were able to install plug without pulling trans.There was a post about taking a flat piece of metal and there are a couple of bolt holes across from each other back there.Installing the flat steel and bolts and pulling freeze plug in and leaving the metal/bolts etc.to keep it from blowing out again.Also check radiator cap.

 

Dangit you guys quit freakin' me out!!! All I do is lie awake at night worrying about head gaskets, flex-plates, lift-pumps, injectors, etc, etc. Now I will add freeze plugs to the list.

 

It's the nature of twinned trucks supposedly. If you note, a lot of trucks that have popped them have been twinned and runniing high RPMs. It is the largest freeze plug in the block and under the greatest pressure. There are a couple things you can do to help the problem. One is clipping a couple vanes off the water pump, the other is to fab up a pressure relief system.

If I remember right,, someone made a tool consisting of a flat piece of steel and some holes drilled in it to press the plug back in the block. On both side of where it pops out the block has threaded holes. You run the bolts in to press it back in the block and leave it there so it doesn't happen again.

 

i located the holes in the back of the block. that seems to be a great idea putting a plate back there to get it in and keep it there. ill update on how it goes. thanks

 

The same thing just happened on another Twins truck I heard about. They had originally blown the radiator then aftet that was fixed. they blew the freeze plug out of the back of the block. They found they had a bad radiator cap. The only reson they found this was that they had swapped that radiator cap with another high horsepower truck and it happened to that one as well. All seemed to be caused by that one bad radiator cap. I guess there could have been more to it, but that seems to have fixed a problem.