I was working on the boat today and found out that the coolent drain plug on the middle of the boat (Twin engine) Port motor is not installed. We tried to get the plug in but it apears to be either stripped out or corroded out. Is there any tricks or slightly over sized plugs that I can use to fix this?
Thanks
Jon
Thread: Coolent drain Plug Problem
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04-09-2009 10:51 PM
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04-09-2009 11:00 PM
Is it a 1/4 pip plug? The first thing to try is a new plug with teflon tape. The brass wears and the block corrodes.
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04-10-2009 09:06 AMIs it the blue plastic type? If it is I think the thread size is 7/16-14.
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04-10-2009 10:25 PMNo this is on a 420hp gen 4. They were brass plugs.
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04-10-2009 11:01 PM
I had that happen on an exh. manifold, drilled it oversized (keep lots of grease on the bit to catch the shards), retapped it next size over and put in a new fitting.
P-4077 "The Swamp" S.B.Y.C. and Michigan medboat mothership
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04-11-2009 04:13 PMThat may be what I have to do. Unfortunatly I think that will require the motor to be pulled or at leaste lifted to gain access. Not something I want to be doing before I get time on the boat to see if everything is good to go. Would hate to pull the motor for that then find out it has to come out again for a leak or something....
I did find some expanding plugs that are .375" and that should fit in there. Maybe I could go that rout with some 4200?
Jon
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04-11-2009 04:19 PMGetting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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04-11-2009 05:27 PM
If the plug is 8 or 10 years old it is worn. Try a new brass plug with teflon tape before you start tapping and pulling things
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04-12-2009 08:12 AMI am still hoping for the simple solution to work. That being that I can get some stuff out of the way and tap it out and maybe put some tape on there or 4200 if it is a little loose but holding. Other then that one of the things in the picture may work just to get my by for the summer when I can pull it and do things correctly.
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04-12-2009 08:04 PMJust make sure your bilge pump is strong, and your batteries fresh, and you're good to go. Oh, during long no-wake zones, try shutting that off, and life jackets for everyone.
Steal a boat, and now you want honest advice from those who didn't get your good deal?! humph.
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04-12-2009 08:36 PMStill waiting to find out if the new plug with teflon tape worked.
Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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04-12-2009 09:23 PM
I had this happen on an oldChris Craft 1965. Small block, both center holes were completely rotten no threads at all, I found a couple larger by just a little(metric) brass fittings that had a screw on cap with an O-ring, wish I could find a pic they were about an inch long with 1/2 of that the cap. I cleaned the holes as best I could and put some JB-wield on the threads and put them in and never had a problem and never had to unscrew from the cast iron again. They worked so good I put them on the rest of the motor. I believe they were from large A/C units. For over 6 years all I ever unscrewed was brass to brass. No more problems.
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04-12-2009 09:51 PM
when all else fails.....
P-4077 "The Swamp" S.B.Y.C. and Michigan medboat mothership
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04-12-2009 10:22 PMI like that! We are talking about a drain plug, go get a metric pipe plug tap the next size up instead of a 3/8 npt or take a 1/4npt clean the threads out and put clear epoxy on the threads and when you want to get it out, put alittle heat on it and break-down the epoxy and wrench it out with a 6 point socket.
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04-13-2009 04:19 PMIf nothing else works, how about an oversized plastic plug instead? No need to re-tap the plastic will form its own threads and seal it the more you tigheten it up???
http://www.product-components.com/pipe_plugs.html
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04-20-2009 07:32 AMOk I got it fixed this weekend. It was PITA!!! I had to take off the manifold, tranny oil cooler, fuel filter, water pump....... Once I got all that done the repair was easy. I ran a tap back into the hole. The problem was that the hole at the outside of the motor was all opened up and no threads. Deeper into the block there was still some threads. The plug could not reach those threads. So what I did was get a 1/4" NPT Brass pipe about 1 and 1/4" long and threaded that into the block after tapping it and it bit very nicely. Then I took out the pipe and put JB weld on it for added support were the block was corroded. It should be super strong. Then I just put a cap on top of that. It fits very well and should not make it any more difficult to drain when needed.
Thanks for the help guys.