Head Freeze plugs?

[RustRatz]

The freeze plug in the back of my driver side head is leaking (just got this project truck of mine on the road and have replaced most of the freeze plugs already)
The truck won’t even hold water at this point. As soon as it gets higher than the top hose, it leaks out of the back of the head.

how do I remove this little guy? Already tried the method I used with the block freeze plugs and it didn’t do much.

 

[franklin2]

What method did you use before? Do you have room for a punch and a hammer?

 

[RustRatz]

What method did you use before? Do you have room for a punch and a hammer?

took a long flathead screwdriver and a hammer, but the head is maybe 2-3 inches from the firewall, so that method barely works. Need to have this done by tomorrow and can only find like 2 videos online about it.

 

[bobbywalter]

i would pull the motor or the cab.


by the time i made what i needed to pop it and reinstall....

 

[bobbywalter]

like....pull the fan and radiator and slide it forward as a unit type of pull...

its the reason i make my front clips removable.

 

[RustRatz]

like....pull the fan and radiator and slide it forward as a unit type of pull...

its the reason i make my front clips removable.

I can’t just pull it though. Need to have it running and driving by tomorrow at 6am.

 

[bobbywalter]

aye. well. its relative......if you are not in a garage or where there is no chainfall or cherry picker ....yeah. problem. pound that bitch in and use a rubber expander plug then.


i know if i had to i can R&R my engine in a few hours. and i have had to for the same reason....but my engine is a v8 diesel in my ranger...so not exactly stock.

 

[RustRatz]

aye. well. its relative......if you are not in a garage or where there is no chainfall or cherry picker ....yeah. problem. pound that bitch in and use a rubber expander plug then.


i know if i had to i can R&R my engine in a few hours. and i have had to for the same reason....but my engine is a v8 diesel in my ranger...so not exactly stock.

I’ll probably work on it all night tonight. Sleep on my break at work lol

 

[franklin2]

aye. well. its relative......if you are not in a garage or where there is no chainfall or cherry picker ....yeah. problem. pound that bitch in and use a rubber expander plug then.


i know if i had to i can R&R my engine in a few hours. and i have had to for the same reason....but my engine is a v8 diesel in my ranger...so not exactly stock.

I hope he has more room than I had for a rubber expander. I have a 2.9 and tried to use the rubber expanders on both sides of the block. The expander setup hits the inside of the water jacket and that prevents it from fully seating in the block. They hang in there for awhile, till the most inopportune moment when they fly out and coolant goes everywhere. I finally pulled the engine and replaced all the plugs. Glad I did, there was one on the back of the block covered by the bellhousing that was seeping also.

 

[RustRatz]

I hope he has more room than I had for a rubber expander. I have a 2.9 and tried to use the rubber expanders on both sides of the block. The expander setup hits the inside of the water jacket and that prevents it from fully seating in the block. They hang in there for awhile, till the most inopportune moment when they fly out and coolant goes everywhere. I finally pulled the engine and replaced all the plugs. Glad I did, there was one on the back of the block covered by the bellhousing that was seeping also.

i finally got it. Had to use my fiancé’s car to push it up into ramps, but I got it.
Top hole is from where the screwdriver popped through at, but the bottom is all rust. I’m guess it was a slow drip, then with me driving it 70 miles yesterday just did it in.

 

[Southeast Dan]

Hi all,
'98 Ford Ranger 4.0 - Drivers side freeze plug leaking. Back problems - can't work on trucks like I used to. Trouble getting an estimate because everyone wants me to haul it in to quote it. Can anybody give me a good estimate to pull engine or tranny to do this? I'm fixing my Ranger, no doubt - just wanna know what to expect. Any mechanics out there? I'm in Gwinnett County Georgia. Thanks folks!

 

[franklin2]

Hi all,
'98 Ford Ranger 4.0 - Drivers side freeze plug leaking. Back problems - can't work on trucks like I used to. Trouble getting an estimate because everyone wants me to haul it in to quote it. Can anybody give me a good estimate to pull engine or tranny to do this? I'm fixing my Ranger, no doubt - just wanna know what to expect. Any mechanics out there? I'm in Gwinnett County Georgia. Thanks folks!

Figure $100 per hour. If everything goes well, at least 8 to 10 hours to pull the engine and get it back in. That is a lot of work. I bet $800-$1000 to do this job. If they pull the engine I would do all of them. If one is going, the others are not far behind.

 

[Southeast Dan]

@franklin2, thank you a million times. I had a quote for $2500 which is way more than $100/hour at 8/10 hours. Thank you and this forum!