Go Fleiter Posted May 13, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2022 (edited) Thanks for all of Your hints: The frost plug has been exchanged successfully! Taking out the leaking plug was not difficult from below. It´s seat showed up in as-new condition. We used sealant for the replacement. However, it was impossible to hammer the new one flat in the available space. We had cleared the surrounding area (oil pipes and filter, batteries, starter…) , but that was not enough to allow for a good, strong hammering. This plug is the one closest to the oil dipstick. As an alternative to removing the engine, after having drilled a small check hole to peer through, we then drilled a 1.5 inch hole in the inner fender. Thus, avoiding interference with steering column and shift linkage, we had straight access to exactly hammer the plug flat with a strong, long rod. When turned to right, the tire did no longer impede the access. Everything went as expected except the re- connection of the oil pipes, The lower one must go into a 45 degree nipple, and neither from above nor from below could one judge the correct orientation of the union nut. Not wanting to deteriorate the thread, we only used the fingers to skrew the nut in. What may take 30 seconds under normal circumstances, this nightmare had cost us 1.5 hours, until the skew finally happened to sit. Torn fingers and a crooked back were a free extra! I alternated with my mechanic every 10 minutes because of the exhaustion we both suffered. While peereing through the check hole, we noticed that the oil pipes of the filter did not obstruct this accessway to the plug at all! Now, the plug is watertight and the oil- pipes too. With all that dirt on me, I didn´t want to touch the smartfone for pictures. Lesson learned: - dedecide if the engine has to come out - decide if you want to accept an extra hole in the inner fender- You can leave the oil pipes untouched. - decide whether the complained plug becomes reachable exactly straight through the hole - decide if You prefer to take fender and inner fender off (shield 12-04-4) Gretings from Düsseldorf Go Edited May 13, 2022 by Go Fleiter multiple errors... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted May 13, 2022 Report Share Posted May 13, 2022 1 hour ago, Go Fleiter said: Thanks for all of Your hints: The frost plug has been exchanged successfully! Edited for multiple errors? Your English is better than my German. Could always speak better than I could write it. If you want to get a laugh, wait til you go into a parts store and ask for Verbrecher kontakte instead of Unterbrecher kontakte. Guy told me with a smile "Leider nicht". (Instead of breaker contacts (points) I asked for criminal contacts. Guy told me Unfortunately not.) Anyway, as much trouble as it was, was a lot better than pulling the engine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyd Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 A suggestion regarding installing the plug and flattening it so it wedges into the hole edge is to use the largest,heaviest mallet such as a bricklayers or stonemasons mallet which have a very heavy head compared to a normal or even a ball peine hammer.......the extra weight in a mallet will help to dimple the plug at the first hit rather than you having to hit the drift a few times to flatten the plug when using a standard type of hammer.........andyd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motoMark Posted August 31, 2022 Report Share Posted August 31, 2022 Found the Melling Brass Freeze Plugs on Rock Auto. A little cheaper than at Summit. https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/melling,MEP14B,expansion+plug,5332 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Douglas Posted August 31, 2022 Report Share Posted August 31, 2022 On 5/4/2022 at 2:32 PM, desoto1939 said: during my travels to Hershey and carlise I have stopped at several tool venders and have seen the welsh plug installer tool that has several flat disks that screw unto the a long road that can swivel so that you can hit the end of the long rod with a hammer to drive the welch plugs into place and set thme properly. This tool is currently on ebay for $58 Look up Freeze plug tools Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com I have tried using this tool in place and could never get a good angle to do the job correctly. I ended up having to pull the fender, both inner and outer to get a good hit to replace the brass plug leaks. I used JB but after 50K miles it is showing signs of some weeping. That is why on the next one I am going to machine the step out of the block and use the cup style ones... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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