uh oh...spaghetti-o's

[Terrible Buddhist]

Ahh the wonderfull northeast...home of changing leaves, glorious springs, and dreadful winters that pop a freeze plug on my big block chevy!
So a couple questions...the freeze plug on the pax side popped out...what are the odds I have lost the block? How do I find out?
Who makes a drainage 'switch' for changing oil? In other words something that screws into the oil pan that I can attach a hose to so I am not just filling my bilge with oil.

[Blown 472]

Maybe put a new plug in it, pressurize the block, pull the spark plugs and crank it over, and check the oil???

[spectratoad]

I had two of mine pop last winter. I was pulling the motor anyway so I looked at the block carfully, put the plugs back in did what 472 says and everything worked fine.

[cyclone]

the freeze plug popped out because it was doing its job. When i lived in NY, my motor popped 'em every winter. I never had any problem with the block cracking and NY winters were always super cold.

[timitunnel]

Any boat parts house will have a kit for the oil. Install a new freeze plug and then diconnect the line from the jet to the motor, turn the water on and see if you get water in the engine. The most common place for a chevy to break is along the lifter galley. Hope this helps. Tim

[malcolm]

They are'nt "freeze" plugs. You can very easily loose a block even if the plugs come out. It's a lot easier to drain the motor in the fall, than to wait till spring and take your chances.

[HOSS]

Summit sells a petcock for the block to drain all water out of the jackets. Down here theres no need usually. Friend cracked a 428 SCJ lifter valley. If it popped one, I `d just put a new one in. Run water first but I feel you`ll be ok.

[Chris J]

There actually called casting plugs and are only there because the casting process requires them. They can occationally save a block from cracking though. Bests thing to do is remove the two 1/4 NTP plugs. This will drain the block completely. They're located one each side near the factory motor mounts.
Quick question: Anyone do a hard block, seems a jet boat would be a perfect application for a fill to the water pump holes?

[OkieDave]

I have filled the water jackets on a few Fords with block filler when boring them big. no cooling problems.

[TX19]

Chris...
I have also filled my jet boat engine block with Hard Block and have had no problems. The engine is a normally aspirated, pump gas only, 514 inch Ford / 700 horsepower. It was filled to the bottom of the "freeze plugs". This is the second engine I have done this way and have not had any problems related to the block filler.

[miller19j]

Terrible Buddhist:
Who makes a drainage 'switch' for changing oil? In other words something that screws into the oil pan that I can attach a hose to so I am not just filling my bilge with oil. Rex Marine www.rexmar.com (http://www.rexmar.com) sells one.
For the freezing problem, I put petcocks on the drains of my block to drain out the water during long periods of storage. I did mine to stop rust but it would also help in your situation.
[ March 18, 2003, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: miller19j ]

[DansBlown73Nordic]

I completly drain the block. This means remove the plugs. I have found that the pet-cocks will plug with junk. This makes you think the block is emty when it still has water in it.
Then this is the important part. I fill the block with pure antifreeze. I suppose you could use a 50/50 mix. I then take the boat for a short ride on the trailer to make sure the stuff is mixed with the water.
This may sound extreme, but I do not want to ever find a freeze plug missing... eek! cry burningm

[AZKC]

Want some real excitement have one pop out while your on the lake, that jet pumps some serious water and when your not 100% trying to figure what the hell is going on, its kinda scary, but funny now.
Plowing thru the no wake zone with the ass of your boat under water throwing about a 3ft wake and driving it up on the ramp like in the movie "The Great Outdoors" now thats a way to meet people, only thing was they all wanted to kill me, till they saw all the water in the boat.
Another lesson learned.
KC

[DUCKY]

When I was still wrenching, I used a bilge pump in a bucket, and pump the pink RV antifreeze in until it started to come out the exhaust (If you have logs).

[Terrible Buddhist]

Good idea...I will remember that...NEXT YEAR frown

[Terrible Buddhist]

What does it mean when there is water coming out of one of the exhaust bolt holes when I pressurize the block?