Not freezeplug but Expansion plug Need HELP! advice?

4.0 rear (closest to firewall) freezeplug was leaking and hitting exhaust and smoking. I FINALLY after hours got the old one out, but the rubber "expansion plug" they gave me at advance is a 47-50mm ,I need a 50mm to whatever,next size up in other words. The one they gave me just spins in the hole.Its snug but will Not tighten down. And theres not enough room with the exhaust manifold to bang in a new freezeplug,so I'm sitting here broken down, no other vehicle trying to figure out what to do, or hoping someone on here can figure out how to fix this. Just for the record,I DO have a new Freezeplug correct size,but no room at all to get a socket on it AND hit it with a hammer. Only have maybe 3" total due to exhaust manifold (yeh its that one,the pain in the arse hardest freeze plug to get to.

H E L P ?? how can I A)make this rubber expansion plug slightly bigger to work or B) is there a trick to pressing the freezeplug in with only 3" clearance? I am completely screwed till i get this resolved so I will check back here often. TY in advance

Buy a block heater and put it in that hole. Proper size, and it clamps in.

Buy a block heater and put it in that hole. Proper size, and it clamps in.

A Block heater??? will it fit considering theres only 3 inches clearence between the hole & the exhaust?? gonna google this heater you speak of,thanx

I think the block heater sounds like a good idea too.

UPDATE: 2.17.12 10:38pm ........I installed the "slightly undersized" expansion plug & wrenched it until the face plate began to bow & then another turn .......Filled the reservior bottle up with water, started the truck & watched underneath for leaks, & there were none. so THATS good .....but strangely enough its smoking out the exhaust pipe heavily, real bad. doesnt really smell like typical exhaust smoke though. not much odor really but heavy smoke all of a sudden. Plus my TEMP gauge went up to about 250 in a short time,so I shut it off. ........when I felt the hoses going to the tank & from the tank, they felt empty & Not hot ...........I felt underneath the fat hose to the radiator & It wasnt hot either ......what on earth could cause this???? and Why is it smoking out the exhaust all of a sudden. ? any one wanna throw a guess even??

You didn't purge the cooling system. It's full of air bubbles. Remove the temp sending unit, left rear on top of head. I loosen it, leaving about one thread holding it. Remove cap from pressure tank. Keep tank full. Start engine. Now remove or loosen sending unit wait till a steady flow of coolant comes out. No bubbles. Start unit back in hole. Shut off engine. Finish tightening sending unit. Hook wire back up. You did remove the wire before unscrewing unit didn't you? Should be ready to go.

I curious about the heavy smoke out of the exhaust? That usually means a water leak into the combustion chamber.

I curious about the heavy smoke out of the exhaust? That usually means a water leak into the combustion chamber.

Its the next morning now ....An I just went out to top off the water & start it up .....No smoke,running good EXCEPT....It crawls up to 220-230 within 3 minutes of running. Water is full .....yet all the hoses are NOT getting hot .....there not even warm .........yet gauge shows 220-230 ..While i had freezeplug out,I used my finger to drag loose cruddy crud out of the hole & rn water thru it till it ran clean, just wondering if my thermostat is screwed up now. How would i even know if it HAS a thermostat? is there a way of knowing without removing things?

as perviously stated, bleed out the system

as perviously stated, bleed out the system

gonna try to find that bleeder type thing you mention back by firewall on engine. Theres a few one that sway way back almost near the REAR of the engine top, then theres one thats not quite that far back there. Both have wires going to it.

as perviously stated, bleed out the system

Just loosened that bleeder on back of the engine, fill water tank.started vehicle & it pushed water out steady, probably a full gallon for about 45 seconds or so, so With the truck running & garden hose running keeping watretank full, I closed off the bleeder valve. ........after about 3 minutes of letting it idle,it reached 210 & all the hoses were warm/hot .....which they werent before. I'm not too crazy about it sitting on 210 but it seemd to stay in that general area & didnt go much past it. maybe 215. isnt 220 max temp???

as perviously stated, bleed out the system

 

Just loosened that bleeder on back of the engine, fill water tank.started vehicle & it pushed water out steady, probably a full gallon for about 45 seconds or so, so With the truck running & garden hose running keeping watretank full, I closed off the bleeder valve. ........after about 3 minutes of letting it idle,it reached 210 & all the hoses were warm/hot .....which they werent before. I'm not too crazy about it sitting on 210 but it seemd to stay in that general area & didnt go much past it. maybe 215. isnt 220 max temp???

water? out of garden hose? are you dumb?

COOLANT. of course it's running hot. now drain the entire system down completely (hoses off water pump), and put a 60/40 mix in it, the 40 being h20, 60 being coolant. there's another 10% of water that you won't be able to get out of the block, so it will mix itself into a 50/50 mix.

don't ever do that again. water is not a solution, and you don't use a hose to keep it topped off. fill reservoir, close cap. crack that "bleeder" (actually coolant temp sensor) open, let air bubble out, close, repeat.

^ Agree. Plain water will get you by in a pinch, but in addition to the "Anti-freeze" potentials of coolant, it also helps absorb heat and transfer it better than water alone. Not only that, but coolant has lubricant and additives in it essential to a healthy cooling system.

Rob

The undersized plug you put it prolly isn't leaking because your motor is full of air instead of COOLANT like it needs. You can't just pour water/coolant into a renix 4.0 and expect the air to burp like a normal car. The best way to do it is jack rear end as high as possible, engine off, remove temp sender, fill bottle till a steady stream pours out of head. Re-install temp sender fill bottle to proper mark and then start motor..

On top of that, if your tap water has iron in it (hard water) it will condense out rust as brown gunk that will plug everything up, including every channel of your radiator.

Automan: Plain water actually does transfer heat better than a water/antifreeze mix. But it doesn't lubricate, freezes easily and causes corrosion.

The undersized plug you put it prolly isn't leaking because your motor is full of air instead of COOLANT like it needs. You can't just pour water/coolant into a renix 4.0 and expect the air to burp like a normal car. The best way to do it is jack rear end as high as possible, engine off, remove temp sender, fill bottle till a steady stream pours out of head. Re-install temp sender fill bottle to proper mark and then start motor..

I know,I know ......Water isnt enough ......The cap on my reserviour tank allows the water to evaporate AND allows a few drips as I'm driving from the pressure inside the tank. So no matter how tight i have the lid,it will have a small amout trickle ,which means once per week I fill it up. Since this episode with the freeeplug blowout, and seeing just how crappy the brownish watre is inside the block,Even b4 reading all this I plan on going atleast 70/30 antifreeze just to avoid rusty block water etc. This has caused me to flush out the system a few times ,which is good. / NOW......I finally located the Correct ruber expansion plug (napa) ....it STARTS at 2" rather then ending at 2" ....installed it last night. Thing fits perfectly. Just tight enough where ya have to tap lightly each side to get it all the way flush. Then tighten it up. ...I'm just not sure how tight to tighten the screw? anyone know?? I'm gonna go aproximately 20pnds tq. just don't wanna over tighten it I'm also gonna nose the front end down into the ditch & bleed the system.

HEY.......No ones mentioned this:When bleeding the system for air bubbles,nosed down into ditch, even then theres Still low points if u look at all the hoses how they run. theres just no way to get All the air out. Theres always gonna be some air pocketed down in a hose or two. Just sayin

Once you've bled out the head, open the rad cap our reservoir on level ground. The air will bleed out.

HEY.......No ones mentioned this:When bleeding the system for air bubbles,nosed down into ditch, even then theres Still low points if u look at all the hoses how they run. theres just no way to get All the air out. Theres always gonna be some air pocketed down in a hose or two. Just sayin

That's just one of the joys of having a closed cooling system; very sensitive to air pockets causing bleeding hassles. :D I'll take the open system any day. Just fill 'er up, start 'er up, stat opens, then all the air gets burped into the expansion tank. Cake.........

Here's a good "how to" to make it a little more painless:

http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Cooling/BurpAirMod.htm

I have never had an issue burping air the way I described to you. Then run it up to temp with the cap off the bottle to burp any remaining air in lines like Jeepco mentioned. If this doesn't work for you then you have other problems in the cooling system.

I've never had an issue needing to burp the system. I disconnect the upper radiator hose at the thermostat and fill the system through it.

I've never had an issue needing to burp the system. I disconnect the upper radiator hose at the thermostat and fill the system through it.

Needing to bleed the head and pulling off hoses are issues to me. :cheers:

The undersized plug you put it prolly isn't leaking because your motor is full of air instead of COOLANT like it needs. You can't just pour water/coolant into a renix 4.0 and expect the air to burp like a normal car. The best way to do it is jack rear end as high as possible, engine off, remove temp sender, fill bottle till a steady stream pours out of head. Re-install temp sender fill bottle to proper mark and then start motor..

I just nosed the truck down in the ditch & started it up & slowly removed the temp sender,lotta air,then gyser of water solid.... Now it runs at 200 steady,thanx