Search the Community

Well here we go. I have a leak on one of my freeze plugs (the hard one to get to, bottom aft under the oil filter). Now I've had this leak for years and it was a minor inconvenience. Leaked about 1 gallon of water every 2-3 weeks and only while parked and not driving. So being as I'm old and retired (read lazy and no initiative) and since I only use water in the radiator for coolant and the car runs at about 170 degrees all the time, never really had the gumption to fix it. Now I am sure a lot of you fine mopar fans out there like to watch our you tube star and movie mogul Keithb (yes Keith I blame you for the motivation), Well his last video was... you guessed it, changing a freeze plug. Now some of the worst things you will ever hear is 1. Son, Have I got a great job for you! 2. When the boss comes out and says "You know I've been thinking..." 3. When you watch a video and think, that doesn't look to hard. So yesterday I pull the oil filter. Move the plug wire holder out of the way. Drill out the freeze plug and pop it out and there was a wall of crap keeping it from leaking. The crud was damp but not letting water flow through. Gotta scribe and poked it through and whoosh out comes about 3 gallons of water. Got the hose, flushed it out and used a wire wheel to clean it up. Put the new freeze plug in with a little permatex to help seal it and used my air hammer to tap it into place. Now being that I used the hose and pick tool to flush and get rid of the crap that built up under the number six piston, I'm feeling pretty damn good about my self (YAY ME). Yeah Right, things can never be that simple. I fill the rad and engine with water and I go to check for leaks. And what to my wondering eyes did appear A LEAK!!! Under the freeze plug about 1/4" and 1" aft water was leaking. Not a lot but enough. Looking at the way the water ran down before the plug change it looked like the plug was leaking and running down about 1/4" and following the engine casting line along the block. NOOO. Wasn't that way at all, the block was cracked. So today, Monday, was spent running the engine up to temp (40 minutes) and using the block sealer to seal it from the inside (another 40 minutes) and the leak was reduced to a weep. Drained the water per instructions and jacked up the back end of the car to get the water clear of the cracked area. Tomorrow will be cleaning the cracked area and using JB weld (Since you can't weld cast iron) to seal it from the outside. The saving grace of all this is it is a minor problem and at least it is not a cracked block in the upper piston area. It also is not cracked into the oil galleys, both which would require an engine change. So Keith, from the bottom of my aching legs to the width of my sore back and top of my stiff and bruised shoulders, Thank you for motivating me to do a simple job that turned into a head ache. The bright side of all this is the weather here in Florida is warm and sunny and with a little introspection the job needed to be done anyway. So for all you mopar fans out there feel free to comment, make fun of, offer alternative suggestions I may or may not take, sympathize, or whatever to my tale of woe in the latest adventures of "MOPAR MADNESS". (Said with words echoing and thunder and lightning crashing). Joe Lee

My freeze plug inside my bellhousing went today. Does anyone know if this can be accessed without pulling the motor? Can I drop the trans and bell housing instead and replace it from there? What does that process look like? Where/how do I find freeze plugs that will fit?

I am trying to get my Flattie running again, it has sat too many years. I have replaced the water pump and flushed the block and radiator. Put on new hoses and added coolant. Went to watch the F-1 race came back and all the coolant was on the floor. It appears that the leak is coming from the timing cover. Is there a freeze plug behind the timing cover? I rebuilt the engine in the mid 60's and I can't seem to find out if there is a plug there or not. Engine is for a P-6.