eliaseli

hey
I have 1995 3vze 4wd 4runner
I found a leak in the lower freeze plug driver's side
Marked in the picture attached

This picture is not my engine!
is taken from the site just for show where the problem is

Any idea how to fix this problem without having to remove motor out?

scope103

forgive me for asking the stupid question: is it leaking oil or water?

There is no oil behind a freeze plug; if you see oil it is almost certainly from the valve cover. Fortunately, if you follow the FSM procedure it's not hard to fix, and if you're really pinched for time it is even possible to do just the driver's side with the plenum still in place.

If you have coolant leaking, I haven't got a clue how you could even see that location, much less work on it, without removing at least the head.

eliaseli

This is not a stupid question..
I managed to find the leak with a mirror. I see clearly water dripping out from this freeze plug
Leak reaches the inner wall of the cap, I tried to seal with epoxy Fstlina
It lasted two days
And now leaking stronger

eliaseli

By the way what is
FSM procedure ?

My English is not so good.
but I'm trying to understand all the information You can give me
in My country the mechanics do not like working on this toyota
They like to work only on new vehicles..

scope103

Wander around on this site; about every 5th posting has someone citing to the manual:
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-buchanan/93fsm/

(The salient part of replacing the valve cover gasket is the requirement to use "seal packing" (usually RTV) in certain, specified, corners.)

eliaseli

Thank you, it would certainly be very useful to me
I appreciate it

eliaseli

Here is a picture of a mirror with which I was able to find the leak
The Green point you can see On pic is leaking coolant from freeze plug

eliaseli

Two days ago I put in a freezer plug epoxy material,
Hopefully it will stop the leak
Today I saw it dripping again
I put a mirror and saw the freeze plug Almost out
I can get it easily out
But I'm afraid I can not put a new one

fdp101452

You can get the whole plug out easily? Those are a tight friction fit, the only thing that holds them in is friction. Are you saying you can just get a hold of it with something a pull it out? In your second image it looks as though the plug is deformed or almost pushed out, is that what Im seeing? When I worked in a machine shop years ago we used to just pick the right size socket and hammer new ones in after boiling the block, but in that location, I don't know how you are going to put that plug back in. Good luck, let us know what you come up with........

eliaseli

I decided to remove engine out
And I'm going to replace all the engine freeze plugs
And all water pipes
I can not believe that if I can somehow to put that New plug back
( I do not see how this is possible without removing cylinder head or engine out)
I'm afraid that if I do not do it.. not for a long time I get drip freeze plug in a different place.
My engine has done 230,000 K"m by now
(140,000 miles)
And works great until now..

eliaseli

I want to ask you a question
You say you put new plug after boiling
I do not know how to boil a complete engine
If I Heat around the hole with Brenner.. it the right way?
In Past I put a freeze plug twice On this engine without boiling Block
Because I do not know how to boil it
Just banged with a hammer and sealer material around
You have any advice for me how to do it the right way while engine is sitting on the table?
Thank you for sharing information
By the way you saw right..
the plug is deformed or almost pushed out,
I am very worried about this
I do not understand how it can be

eliaseli

I want to apologize for the quality of my english language
I hope you understand me correctly
It must have looked funny the way I write

rattlewagon

Pull the head off, or the whole engine, which ever is easier for you. If you pull the engine, you can replace all of them.

I just hammer the plugs in with sealant. I dont think youll have to boil it.

scope103

Hmmm! Tasty!

Toyota recommends boiling the heads to replace valve stem guides. http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...68cylinder.pdf (page 66)

I've never seen anything in the manual about replacing freeze plugs. I've only done it once (different engine) and I put them in cold. (I also did not use sealant. I would wonder if the sealant might actually "lubricate" the plug, making it a little easier to push out. If you want to use sealant, use as little as possible.)

Boiling the block would require a very large container, something you're not likely to find in your kitchen! I would not try localized heating with a burner; if you could expand the metal enough to make a difference you might crack it.

eliaseli

That's what I decided to dorattlewagon..
I'm doing this project in a machine shop
and it costs a lot of money
But I love this truck
In my country Israel
I pay for everything mechanical at least 7 times more than what you pay in the U.S.
Money I pay the mechanic to takes out the engine and returns back
You buying a new engine in America

fdp101452

I didn't explain it very well, I supposed folks would know what I was talking about. When we started to work on a block that came in, the first thing we would do is remove the freeze plugs. We then would boil the block in a large vat to clean the outside of grease as well as the water passages. That was before boring the block, decking, installing the cam bearings and anything else we had to do to it. The last thing we did was install new freeze plugs. We installed the new plugs cold, no sealant was used. We removed the old plugs to better clean the water jackets and because they tend to rust. Hope this explains what I was talking about. Why don't you just remove the head instead of removing the engine?

eliaseli

Thank you for the explanation now it more understandable
Anyway, I decided to get out the engine
Because I want to replace all the freeze plugs on it

And at the same time to replace the gasket between the gearbox and the engine i have leaked there..
I think this is the correct way to handling the rusted freeze plugs
problem
I think if there is one plug in bad shape, probably you find a few more in bad shape
And most convenient way to do this while engine is sitting on the table
So after I get out all the freeze plugs
I wash all the water passages in

fdp101452

I wish you good luck...and you are probably right about replacing the rest of the plugs.

eliaseli

The decision to remove engine out and it turned out like the right thing to do
I found another leaking freeze plug behind the motor between the transmission and the engine
Others also seem like they going soon finish their life
I also found a leak in the metal tube that sits under the manifold

scope103

Consider "pressure testing" the heads, and if there is a way to do it, the block. (I've only heard of it being done on heads). Those freeze plugs are quite rusted, so you might wonder if you have small holes elsewhere in the cooling system. It would be a shame to replace all the freeze plugs (and leaky coolant lines) only to learn you have a small hole in the block itself.

Thanks for following up; so often someone posts a problem and we never hear the resolution.