Dave1972

On each side of the block is a plug to drain the water from the block (gen 6 502). I cannot get the plug to budge and am in the process of stripping the head off pretty good from wrenching on it. Anyone have a secret to getting these out? Is it safe to hit the plug itself with a small torch to get things heated up? Will a torch and some heat on just the plug hurt the block? Most of the plugs I've seen in the past had a primary, with a smaller plug inside of it, this one is directly into the block with no alternate way to get it out. HELP!!!!!

Thanks in Advance,
Dave

Big Boys Toys

Dave I have found these very difficult to remove even when the plug is in good condition.
I have a couple of suggestions.

1 If the head is still there and not too bad try to hammer a metric sock onto the plug, if you get this on next you need to make sure you have a good position for your ratchet to put a load on it. I use a snap on pivot head three eights drive because it allows you to get odd angles.

2 If this does not work you may have to remove the manifold so you can see what you are doing. Vise grips with a little heat on the area may work but you need to be very very careful with any kind of heat in the bilge, I would use a heat gun here.

3 The plugs are typically made from brass, and fairly soft, you will probably end up drilling the plug out. Be real careful here , you need to make sure you are in the center of the plug. You can step drill it out. You could also try an easy out, but typically I have found that the brass is so soft the easy out expands the plug.
Get correct drill size for the one quarter NPT thread, drill it out and retap the hole.
Be very careful not to damage the block when you do this.

You can get into trouble if you do not have the hole centered properly. I have seen guys just drill the plug and not worry about being on center and damage the thread on the block. If you step drill and get off to one side and you are close to the tap drill size, you can often file the hole off to the center and pick out the remainder of thread sitting in the block.
Take your time or have someone who has done it before help you.
Good Luck
Brian

Cord

I've heard that this trick works. The ONE time that I tried it, the bolt actually came right out.

Take a mapp torch and heat the area around the bolt. Not cherry red, just really hot. Take the torch away and press a block of parafin on the offending bolt. The theory is that the parafin will get sucked into the threads and help break it free.

Turbojack

When I have to drill something out I use reverse drill bits. These work 100% better that easy outs. You put your drill in reverse & start drilling. Before you know it the plug has unscrewed before you have finished drilling. You can get these drills from any tool place.

Dave1972

Thanks for the help you guys! I will be trying the small torch method of heating it up first before I try anything too drastic. The nice part about this is that the flex hose for the bilge blower is right there next to the bolt so I will just turn on the bilge blower for a while when I'm torching. I just hope like heck that I don't have to drill these out! I will probably have to try the pounding the metric socket on first! And yes, I have also found the swivel head 3/8 ratchet to work wonders in tight locations!!!!

Thanks again!
Dave

Dave1972

UPDATE!!!!

I was able to use a small torch and heat up one of the bolts enough to get it free and out of the block no problem! When I got it out, obviously the block was still full of water. I tried getting the other side out and my attempt failed (heated up with torch and hammered on a 14mm socket) and the head of the bolt is completely rounded. I pulled all of the other hoses and drained all of the water that I could, then I started pouring some of the pink stuff inside the hoses and low and behold it started coming out of the bottom of the block where I was able to get the one side open. Is it safe to assume that all of the water is out of the other side? Or was the other side still full and just diverted the pink stuff out the empty side???? I know I need to eventually get that plug out anyway, but was hoping someone could shed some light on this one for me!!!!

Any other options for getting that plug out once the head is rounded off? I'm not real comfortable drilling into the block, but maybe an easy out would work with some heat? Someone mentioned a reverse drill bit....I've never tried using one!!!

HELP?

Dave

Cord

Now that the water is out of the block, try reheating it. The water is a major sponge for heat. Just try to solder a pipe with water in it. Ain't happin'.


These are brass right? Perhaps you can braize a brass nut on.

Dave1972

That's true...I never thought about that before....should hold the heat much better/easier now that the water is out!!