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freeze plug help

19K views 21 replies 10 participants last post by  icanfixall 
Are they cup type or convex type? If they're convex, you won't knock them into the coolant passage because they seat against a lip. I've always knocked a hole in them with a sharp punch, then used whatever it took, like Chuckster posted, to pry them out. Whatever you use, don't gouge the sealing surface on the block or you'll be in a world of hurt.
Does anyone know how hard it is to get the freeze plugs to seal back up in these motors?
No problemo if you put them in right and use the right sealer. In all the shops I worked in for over 3 decades, replacing freeze plugs was part of an overhaul after hot tanking the block and I can't remember any of us have a leaker.
 
I called local IH dealer today and they said they dont use special tool. I called local another IH dealer ane got the same story.
Right, a special tool isn't needed, but a little "mechanical appitude" is:icon_wink:. First, after you've got the old plug out, take some sandpaper or whatever and clean all the scale and crud from around the hole. Take a small screwdriver and clean ALL the scale from the lip area where the plug actually seals and makes contact. Get a can of what's called Aviation Permatex, the brown stuff. Put some on the edges of the plug and on the sealing surface of the hole. After you set the plug in the hole, you take the proper size ball peen hammer (big plug, bigger ball end on the hammer) and center the ball of the hammer at the center of the plug. Then, with another heavy hammer, smack the face of the ball peen hammer not too hard, but not too soft, and presto, you've dimpled the plug and expanded it tightly in it's bore forever more.:lol:

if you dont use it--ask him what happened to his soft plug--in spite of others peoples comments---
It's not rocket science, key thing is you have to know what you're doing, and do it right, like cdnsarguy just said, if you don't feel confident doing it, maybe you can get it to a shop somehow.
Another option is if your town is fairly large, you probably have a mobil diesel mechanic (does work on the road, etc.) and he'd probably charge an hour's labor at most if you had everything ready for him and had him come out.
 
There is simply no way you can accomplish all of this without the tool. Eyeballing and artistic license are great for things like decorating cakes, but they have no place in rebuilding engines.
I guess that depends on your mechanical expertise, or more importantly, the lack thereof. Like the OP posted, the cake decorators at two IH shops he checked with, plus myself and any shops I worked in never had a problem using the standard procedure. I'm glad you got the job done with the help of the tool. It's handy in your case that Ford sells a tool, but in the real world, (truck shops), for some odd reason you'd find all engine mfgrs vary soft plug bores by as small as a 1/32" of an inch difference in diameter so a shop would have more tools than Paris Hilton if they had to grab one every time they put in a soft plug since they run from as small as 1/2" to 3" dia. The OP can install it any way he chooses.
There is simply no way you can accomplish all of this without the tool.
Well, if that was the case, I'd of had more leakers than I can count, not to mention the other 12+ mechanics I worked with for 3 decades. Just how many have you installed?
 
Yessir, me too, but we're talking about the convex type, not cup type. The convex type fits easily in the bore, but it goes up against a lip around the bore diameter. Then you dimple the plug center to expand it, they're actually easier to install than the cup type.
 
Actually lots of diesels use the cup type too. I wouldn't know about the boat deal, I'd be the poster boy for the saying that the two happiest days a boat owner has is the first day out in it and the day he sells it.:lol:
I couldn't figure out where Farmington is and now I see it's right around Jerold Camarillo's country. If you ever run across him at a branding or whatever, you'll find he's about the nicest, down-to-earth guy you ever met for someone who's been a many times NFR qualifer and Senior Pro Rodeo world champion.
 
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