Coolant passages????

[5027 steve]

HELP ....went to drain my block to put new temp sensor in and got mud...see pic below,I believe that should be for draining coolant out of the block??? When I removed petcock nothing but mud and no coolant.....please advise

[Don Coatney]

Poke a ice pick into the hole. Remove all freeze plugs and flush out the block until the water comes out clear.

 

[Los_Control]

I agree with Don, is amazing how much sand you will remove from the original casting of the block.

I also needed to remove my water pump, and run stiff "farmers fence wire" through the distribution tube, And this was not a easy feat, but some effort and time I got the wire through and cleared the tube.

 

Also what I found, what we call soft plugs, the size is 1 5/8", but they are really welsh plugs.

The difference is the thickness, welsh plugs are almost flat metal, while soft plugs have a deep lip. The deep lip they stick to far out of the block and not sure if they would ever seal correctly.

 

I just used my cordless drill with a self tapping screw and put a screw in the welsh plug, then used a bar to grab the screw and pull it out. Was simple.

When installing my new welsh plugs, I wire brushed and cleaned everything good. I then put the plugs in dry, now they leak ... just a dribble but still leaks. I will need to pull them back out and add some sort of sealant to seal them.

 

You will be surprised how much sand and dirt you pull out of that block.

Before I started my truck would warm up and go straight to over heat stage.

Now it can idle for a hour at 160, eventually climb to 180, then a fast idle and right back to 160. I am now ready to install a T-stat.

[Don Coatney]

[Reg Evans]

Here's what you'll find behind those freeze plugs.

[5027 steve]

WOW.... Thanks guys ,I have been reading up on flushing the block with Cascade dishwasher soap, Anyone tried this ????? Thanks for the response

[5027 steve]

Los,See that's what's confusing,I started the truck up this morning and this thing will idle at 160 degrees all day long never opening the thermostat....I idled it for 2 hours this morning and never opened the thermostat....Kinda confusing......so no overheating problems....I even turned up the idle speed to see if I could get the thermostat to open ...... nothing

[Frank Elder]

remove tstat, put a pot of water on the stove insert candy thermometer

When the water reaches your opening temp then lower the tstat on a wire and see if it pops.......no pop no good. If it is good time clean that block out, remove all freeze plugs petcock and water distribution tube. More than likely you have a good size chore ahead of you good luck.