Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Freeze plug question

[John Berger]

I noticed about a month ago that I had anti-freeze on the transmission bell housing.



I changed the oil, no anti-freeze in the oil and no oil in the coolant, plus no loss of power or white smoke tells me it's not the head gasket.



The antifreeze is coming out about 3-4 inches above the oil pan line and from the back of the motor on the driver's side. Some friends and myself included believe I've got a freeze plug that has started to give up the ghost.



I've got a 53 block, so I was a bit suspicious, but as far as I know, the block cracks are small and usually start on the side of the block. I'm not losing a lot of anti-freeze (although a trip to Tennessee towing our 5'ver caused the reserve tank to go from full to add).



Anybody else had any issues with freeze plugs on the back of the motor. This will be a pricey job because the transmission has to come off to do the repair.



The anti-freeze is not pouring out. The motor has 153K miles and is performing very well. I've towed approximately 20% of those miles.



Thanks in advance for any help.



oh one more question. How many plugs are there on the back of a 24 valve engine?

 

[Jdorfmeyer]

I had a freeze plug on the passenger side of the head start leaking out the back near the firewall. i pulled the plug by putting a screw in the middle of it and pulling. I tapped the hole and put a brass plug in it instead of a new freeze plug. This was on a freeze plug that was only about 1/2" diameter. Use a mirror to find the leak and then pul what you found on TDR. Someone will know how to fix it.

 

[John Berger]

This leak is coming from the back of the motor. The only way I'll be able to get to it is to pull the transmission.



on edit: I did check the two freeze plugs on the upper back part of the motor. They feel bone dry.



The wetness starts at the part of the motor on the driver's side, just above the starter. It's dry on the upper part of the motor. Are those two plugs back there the only two plugs on the back part of the motor?

 

[John Berger]

Update:



I had to do some running around, so I decided to crawl under the truck right after I shut it down.



I could see a line of wetness running from up near the top of the motor, but not from the freeze plug.



I'm pretty sure now that it's the head gasket and it's not a bad leak.



I've got a theory that I want to put to a test. About 60K or so, I went with the Cummins Pre-mix stuff and ran that in the motor until about March of last year. I went cheap and bought the green stuff. I noticed that the thermostat housing trickled the anti-freeze for about two months. Nothing major, in fact very very minimal.



Early in May it dried up and stopped. No problems since. I'm just wondering if that's what's going on with the head gasket. I'm going to go back to the Cummins Pre-mix and see what happens.



But I'm relieved that I can almost certainly say that the leak is originating at the back of the motor at the cylinder head. The only other problem would have been a cracked block. Not good news that.



My freeze plugs all look very good, by the way. No corrosion that I can spot.

 

[DiTrani]

I had the same freeze plug leak that Jdorfmeyer mentioned when the truck was only 2 years old. I used Bars Stop Leak to temporarily fix it since I couldn't get to it myself (Jdorfmeyer, you're a wizard or a contortionist!) and the dealer wanted to keep the truck for a week to fix it.



That temporary fix is now 3 years old and I doubt I'll ever replace that freeze plug. I just re-add the Bars when I change the coolant.



Somebody will jump in hear with a story about Bars being bad for your engine, but don't believe it. At the very least you can use it until you get around to replacing the HG.