Freeze plug pushed out

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Penstarpurist

Penstarpurist

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So, my son and I just finished the rebuild of his v6 in his car. We tore it down to the bare block, replaced everything including the freeze plugs obviously. When he bought the freeze plugs half were brass, the other half were not. The parts house didn't have a full set of one or the other. I remember thinking that I hope they all seat the same. We used rvt when putting them all in. I know the brass ones seated differently than the others did and thinking that I hoped they stayed in. Well he took it for its maiden cruise to hang out last night. New clutch and rebuilt engine, runs awesome and goes through the gears nicely. This morning he tells me that it pushed out one of the brass freeze plugs and evacuated the antifreeze going down the road on his way home. The hood was still off so it stayed relatively cool until he was pulling in the driveway. Should I think about popping out the other plugs and replacing them while it's on the lift doing g the one?
 
Sounds like the brass ones might have been the wrong size.
 
That's what I am afraid of, for the few bucks to replace them it would probably be a big mistake not to swap them all out.
 
Penstarpurist said:
That's what I am afraid of, for the few bucks to replace them it would probably be a big mistake not to swap them all out.
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Keep in mind, freeze plugs are "supposed" to be a press fit. SO, for instance, if the listed size of the plug is 1 5/8 for example, the actual measured size should be like 1.627 or maybe 1.628. You get the idea.
 
Half the freeze plugs had no shoulder, the other half did. So some wanted to seat better than the others. I will have to get the fsm out and see what it calls for on the plug specs then get the micrometer and do an actual measurement of the ones he gets vs the one that popped out.
 
Well got the freeze plugs swapped out. Then he fired up the engine and while it smoked a bit on initial start up. Its started pouring out white smoke from the exhaust. I am hoping it's just the assembly lube that's still burning off, did an oil change and it was assembly lube grey. Otherwise I am thinking head gasket leak. We had the heads resurfaced, new valves, guides, 3 angle grind. It had overheated severely a few times before the rebuild. Of course new gaskets, head bolts, as they are torque to yield and have to be replaced anytime they are removed. The bolts were so wedged in from warpage. I am leaning towards thinking the block deck is warped. No leaks from the heads that can be seen on the exterior of the engine. Car runs great, which is why I am really hoping it's just break in smoke. Though, when it starts up it blows a puddle of liquid onto the ground.
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I have had this kit for years. Cheap and works well
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sounds like your heads gaskets are leaking compression into the cooling system . that pressure can push out a new set freeze plug . but you said some did not have an edge on those plugs , if there flat dishes , those go in dish out . so they can be hammered in to lock in to those bores of the block .
 
The heads were completely rebuilt, decked and 3 angled. So I really hope they are not cracked or something. They are fel pro gaskets on the heads. The plugs were in the correct way, I did ask my son if he thought leaking compression could push the plugs out, so having you think that be possibility as well makes me really think that could be the culprit.
 
i do hope you check the heads for cracks before spending bucks on them . but your block could have cracked during a overheating . its a ford i gather . not many of them come down my road , did a friends ranger v6 once . we ended up replacing the whole engine after he ran it hot just once . heads had 30 plus cracks in them . if you heads are still good , grab another lower end and transfer parts . after all there were more the a few million mustangs built to rob parts from .
 
pomonamissel said:
i do hope you check the heads for cracks before spending bucks on them . but your block could have cracked during a overheating . its a ford i gather . not many of them come down my road , did a friends ranger v6 once . we ended up replacing the whole engine after he ran it hot just once . heads had 30 plus cracks in them . if you heads are still good , grab another lower end and transfer parts . after all there were more the a few million mustangs built to rob parts from .
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Have had a dozen or so Rangers/Explorers. Never had a problem with cracked heads. Hell, I was swapping a 302 in place of the 2.8 V-6 in my one Ranger. Pulled the drain plug out of the pan and fired it up. Took 30 minutes to lock up. Let it cool off, fired it up. Took 15 minutes for it to lock up this time. Next fire up I had to hold it floored just to keep it running. I gave it to the shop that built my 302. Steve polished the crank with some crocus clothe, resized the rods and ran the ball hone down the cylinders. I started working for him....the delivery truck had my old motor in it. Drove it like I stole it. He put well over another 100k on...it had 110k on it when I tortured it.
 
We initially before rebuilding the engine took the heads to a performance head rebuilder that magnafluxed, new valves, 3 angle grind, guides, etc. rebuilt and flow tested them. Cost me heavily, so I pray they aren't cracked. But will definitely have them rechecked. We have a complete core 3.8 motor, we bought it for $40 just for the timing cover, as ours was cracked. Its a high mileage engine, but like you said we can transfer any and all good stuff from one to the other if our block turns out to be the culprit for a leak at the deck and heads. Yeah, it's a furd mustang, I want to put a 302 in it, as we have a recent rebuilt one on the stand. I'm getting ready to 302 my ranger, but only after the 400 big block duster is fully finished. Which should be by the end of next month, if my kids stop tearing their cars up and let me focus on the duster. Lol.
 
don't know way you'd build one of those 2.8's , there cheap as hell complete at the bone yards . we paid like 600 bucks for one running and complete / ready to drop in . with everything injection , ign , exhaust , clutch , ect.... just needed to bolt it in .
 
Yeah I agree. I wanted to put in a 5.0 swap. Even tried to talk him into a coyote engine. But he was set on keeping the original engine in the car. Lol, It's been totaled out 4 times, literally. 3 times by another motorist plowing into twice when my sister drove it, once when my younger son was driving it and the last time a deer jumped out in front of it when my son who drives it now was coming back from skiing. It's got a whole new front clip on it, he just put new tires on it before the engine went out. I can't bust on him too much, as my 73 duster was a basket case and I put way too much money into it. Of course, it has a clean title, and is probably worth what I'm in it and will keep going up in value over time. I think he's seriously wondering what to do next. Drive it for a couple hundred miles and see if it clears up, swapping the other 3.8 over with any parts we can reuse, swap it to a 5.0 or park it next to the other projects and walk away. I know he probably won't just walk away from it, he will have to know what went wrong. I feel bad for him as he put alot of effort into it, but it's part of the whole building engines and fixing up cars. Some you win, some you lose.
 
Replace the radiator and verify fan operation?

Did you diagnose the overheat or just commence to pulling?
 
Put in a brand new radiator with the rebuild. The overheating was caused from my dad putting that copper radiator stop leak in a couple times when my sister drove it. Completely plugged the water jackets on the heads and block. But the guy chiseled all the passages clean on the heads, and we cleared all the ones on the block, new water pump as well. The only thing we used over without being checked or replaced was the rods and and pistons. Which had all new rings and bearings put in. It's got to be a head to block thing, or still burning the assembly lube out. Which I know its not likely to be the assembly lube burning out and more likely to be the block deck being warped.
 
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