Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > Interests > Tilted Motors


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 07-10-2005, 09:15 PM   #1 (permalink)
MSD
The sky calls to us ...
 
MSD's Avatar
 
Super Moderator
Location: CT
The truth about so-called "Freeze-out" plugs

This has come up a few times at work. I hear people mentioning freeze-out plugs, and every time I ask what they're for, people tell me that they're there to prevent damage if the coolant freezes. At this point I always stop and correct them. Freeze protection is a nice side-effect, but what they're really for is to make it easier to wash out the casting sand during manufacturing.

Just a little fun fact. If anyone has any more fun (or not particularly fun) facts along these lines, share 'em.
MSD is offline  
Old 07-11-2005, 08:48 AM   #2 (permalink)
Addict
 
Thanks, ya learn something new every day...
RaDiAn is offline  
Old 07-12-2005, 05:51 PM   #3 (permalink)
Crazy
 
noblejr's Avatar
 
Location: Atlanta
I found this out a few years back when I was trying to figue out why the freeze-plugs didn't pop out on my Nissan pickup when it froze.
noblejr is offline  
Old 07-15-2005, 12:12 PM   #4 (permalink)
Psycho
 
Location: North America
they are supposed to protect the block from cracking if the coolant freezes but they usually are so rusted in that the block cracks anyway...The hole is there for the casting process but the plug is for the freeze protection as well as to plug the hole.
catback is offline  
Old 07-15-2005, 01:57 PM   #5 (permalink)
MSD
The sky calls to us ...
 
MSD's Avatar
 
Super Moderator
Location: CT
Quote:
Originally Posted by catback
they are supposed to protect the block from cracking if the coolant freezes but they usually are so rusted in that the block cracks anyway...The hole is there for the casting process but the plug is for the freeze protection as well as to plug the hole.
The plug is only there to plug the hole. I've never seen a block, even a clean one, freeze out the plugs instead of cracking.
MSD is offline  
Old 07-29-2005, 02:28 PM   #6 (permalink)
Psycho
 
Location: North America
Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist/happen...I've seen freeze out plugs pop out during a freeze and actually protect the block. Granted the engine shouldn't have had water in it during the winter time but that's another story.
catback is offline  
Old 07-30-2005, 07:11 AM   #7 (permalink)
Tilted
 
wisj2's Avatar
 
Location: Oklahoma
I have also seen freeze plugs do the job and save the block from cracking.
wisj2 is offline  
Old 07-30-2005, 07:34 AM   #8 (permalink)
Paq
Junkie
 
Paq's Avatar
 
Location: South Carolina
I've never heard of that happening and always thought they were there to ease cleaning. besides, if mine ever popped out, it would probably be easier to replace the engine than to pop them back in
__________________
Live.

Chris
Paq is offline  
Old 07-30-2005, 10:41 AM   #9 (permalink)
Insane
 
Location: aqui
I've never had to worry about freezing, to damn hot here. Our winter = 50 degrees.
The only problem that we ever have is the plugs drying out from the heat.
__________________
Phant

Irrationality is the square root of all evil
Phant84 is offline  
Old 07-30-2005, 12:47 PM   #10 (permalink)
Junkie
 
Generally if a core plug does pop out it is more luck than anything, many blocks have cracked since the plugs didnt pop out. On a side note, most race engine builders at the higher levels of racing (Nextel Cup, etc) tap the core holes and use threaded plugs that can't pop out.
laconic1 is offline  
Old 08-01-2005, 01:07 PM   #11 (permalink)
Riding the Ocean Spray
 
BadNick's Avatar
 
Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrSelfDestruct
If anyone has any more fun (or not particularly fun) facts along these lines, share 'em.
Quite a few people, even technical professionals, seem to think that if water is moving it won't freeze. For example, the practice of letting water run at the end of a pipeline to prevent freezing is not based on the water moving, but rather that the near freezing water is expelled while warmer resupply water brings enough heat into the system to offset heat loss.

PS: where I work we manufacture freeze protection bleeder/drain valves so I deal with this issue often. Most locomotives in the U.S. and Canada have one of our valves on the engine block to protect it from freezing since they do not use antifreeze in locomotives ...antifreeze results in reduced heat rejection and therefore reduced power and even a couple percent = lots of $$$
BadNick is offline  
 

Tags
freezeout, plugs, socalled, truth

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:21 AM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360