Got really bad news from the mechanic today...

[Myco]

On Sunday morning I got up early as I wanted to go by this garage sale. On the way I stopped by the bank, grabbed some cash... drove 3 miles and saw a garage sale sign and decided.. well might as well right? So I stopped, they had nothing so I jumped back in the car and went 3 more miles to the garage sale I was going to originally.

Bought a couple of things and went back to the car to as strong coolant aroma. I looked around then looked under my car. Yep, it was me. A river of coolant was coming out of the engine near the back of the block. I was stumped... car was not overheating... didn't have any warnings at all and it couldn't have been coming from the heater core as the inside was dry as a bone and the coolant DID-NOT-STOP. It just kept coming and coming.

So... I tried filling the reservour and seeing if I could limp it home but only got a mile watching the temp gauge before I saw it jump a bit above normal. Stopped the car right there... steam pouring out of hood and had it towed to the mechanic... in the wait for the tow-truck the car proceeded to empty it's entire content of coolant on the ground. Things were not looking good.

So... mechanic said it sounds like a freeze plug and just got word that that's exactly what it is.

So my delema is ... what do I do. The mechanic doesn't know what to do... put a new head on it (which he says is kinda hard to come by) or put a plug in it (says the tranny would need to be dropped and no guarantees to it working without knowing why it happened in the first place.)...

Talked to his son today and he said the old man is contemplating what to do and looking around at solutions.

What do you guys think? What should I do?

 

[DieselDan]

How able are you to do the work yourself? A freeze plug by itself is pretty simple to install. There are also coolant hoses mounted to the rear of the passenger side head... Give that a look...

 

[Myco]

How able are you to do the work yourself? A freeze plug by itself is pretty simple to install. There are also coolant hoses mounted to the rear of the passenger side head... Give that a look...

I replaced the heater core myself. The shop already used a scope-mounted-video camera to figure out it is def. the freeze plug.

My question comes down to ... is it a waste of money to fix it? Could there be damage to the head I don't know about and therefore a head-replacement is the way to go.

I gave as much information as I could so as to let you guys know what I know. I really had not even heard of a freeze plug until 3 days ago.

As far as doing the work myself. I'm able but I don't have the time right now. Has anyone you know done one on this car? The mechanic said even though it's the same engine as other cars the drivetrain etc.. makes it hard to get at.

 

[SATURN5]

Freeze plugs rot from the inside. Being steel on aluminum creates electrolysis, which eats em. If one is bad, the rest are not far behind. My guess is the coolant wasn't kept up at some point and nature took it's course.

I'd drop the engine out, replace all the freeze plugs and be done...

 

[87TTOPGT420]

Change a head for a frost plug. ...I'd find another mechanic but that's my opinion


Freeze plugs rot...it happens...replace with new and move on

 

[PenGun]

I have replaced frost plugs in some pretty ugly places.

You can drive a big screwdriver, yeah it's how I do everything, into em' then twist em' out. You will need to use force and I have never done one in an aluminum block, so be careful. Getting em' in is simple. Just make sure they are evenly seated. You can tap them into some very difficult places with patience.

But yes, the rest are suspect.

 

[Markviiiedrea]

Do the plug your self, even if you have to drop the trans. If you have to change the head or drop the motor, get another engine.


Ps. Heads are everywhere.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Don't give up. It's not as bad as it seems. You can do that yourself. My grandpa in his 70's did that to one of his ol' cars.

 

[chargerxr]

Isn't it funny how Americans call them freeze plugs and Canadians call them frost plugs. I'm sure for the most part it gets a helluva lot colder up there than down here. Myco, ask them which freeze plug specifically is leaking. Pulling the head to do a freeze plug sounds insane.

 

[PenGun]

There are three down each side. They are just under the exhaust manifold. There are probably two on the back of the motor, yup, behind the tranny. There may even be some in the heads.

You can use cheater plugs if it's in a really bad place:

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/d...QQDormanQQFreeze_PlugQQ19931998QQRB02603.html

 

[Stangman]

Worst case, I have 2 cylinder heads, lol. Freeze out plugs pop all the time on folks, and from the sounds of it, you caught it in enough time to prevent any damage to the heads. You'll be fine, but replace them all if possible.