Core Plugs

Right simple question I know, but basically after having my clutch go and finally repaired yesterday and all working well, I've just had the car piss anti freeze all over the work carpark, think I've found the issue appears to be coming from the core plug closest to the front of the engine, a friend of mine said its possible for this to be fixed with some radweld?

Anyone else got any other suggestions? Or would radweld be the best thing?

I would personaly get a new core plug put in. and not use any type of radweld as i think this could possibly block up your heater rad. Plus if the radweld did work and stop the leak, the core plug will be rusty on the inside and could fail again when on the motorway etc.

regards chris

You can buy a set for about £30. Or I have a used set in my garage that might be of some use. Just give £10 for postage.

If one has gone they will all be rusted and about to give trouble. Pull the engine and change them all!! This is now becoming an issue with these engines if they have been run without anti freeze at some time. Anti freeze has corrosion inhibitors in it, to slow or stop internal corrosion.

Kind of on the same subject, but I recently bought a tractor from a local auction, all of the dealers laughed at me as I bought it for 1/2 of what it was worth but they reckoned the block was cracked and I had bought a pile of scrap. Turned out it was a core plug hidden behind the water pump. 49p later and I was a happy bunny

Ok if a new set of core plugs is recommended, you can't really get to them particularly easily, and I'm no mechanic, along with I have no access to a lift to get the engine out of the car, plus with something like that I wouldn't even know where to start, does anybody know someone in the essex area who could do such a job for me? I have a local garage that could probably do it, but I suspect it will cost an arm and a leg. Speaking of which does anyone know how much it would cost including labour to have all the plugs replaced?

Also from what I know, radweld is designed to find any cracks or holes in the cooling system and seal them, instead of possibly blocking up the rad or something like that.

and cheers for all the help so far chaps, much appreciated

Little update *wipes brow* I purchased some rad weld, ran it through the system yesterday and it's done it's job, thank god!

But I will be getting that one replaced at some point soon, also does anyone know of possibly a guide on how to get the top section of the engine so I can get to the core plugs, and how many there are? I could see three on the passengers side of the engine.

Or if not how much would it cost for a garage to do it? Although that to me would be a last resort.

So despite everyones advice, Including Chris Wilson's to get the plugs changed and not to use Radweld for reasons stated, you went ahead and used it anyway.

If radweld is thick enough to block up a leaking core plug, just think what the water channels and inside of your rad are going to look like. Its also a nightmare to totally flush out of the system once in there.

Its a tempory fix to a problem that is only going to get worse, now not only do you have to replace the core plugs, but you will have to drain, flush (repeatedly) and replace the coolant.

Good luck with that.

Right simple question I know, but basically after having my clutch go and finally repaired yesterday and all working well, I've just had the car piss anti freeze all over the work carpark, think I've found the issue appears to be coming from the core plug closest to the front of the engine, a friend of mine said its possible for this to be fixed with some radweld?

 

Anyone else got any other suggestions? Or would radweld be the best thing?

Is your car an NA and does it appear to be coming out of the housing at the rear of the water pump?

You need to pull the engine out altogether to do the core plugs, simple as that, although no doubt some Alabamian in a tin hut could do them in situ by taking months and making a *ugger of it You could pull the head at the same time and clean out the steam holes the Rad Weld has probably now blocked

Listen to the man, do it right first time.

In fairness not everyone is able to pull an engine and change all the core plugs, either due to lack of facilities, ability, or wanting to pay someone else to do it. Adding Rad Weld does have serious risks though. but we don't live in an ideal perfect situation. I have done some pretty dire repairs on my own cars when needs must

In fairness not everyone is able to pull an engine and change all the core plugs, either due to lack of facilities, ability, or wanting to pay someone else to do it. Adding Rad Weld does have serious risks though. but we don't live in an ideal perfect situation. I have done some pretty dire repairs on my own cars when needs must

Unfortunately this is my problem, which have stated in the thread already, but EVERYONE has seemingly missed, I did indeed read, take in and understand exactly what everyone has been saying, that taking the engine out and replacing them all is the best thing to do, unfortunately, I've just had the clutch done and have only just purchased the car, and do not have the facilities or the skill to do such a job.

I would happily accept help from you tubbytwo if you want to help me change the core plugs and drop the engine? But unfortunately I don't have the facilities to do this.

There is a 20mm ish plug at the rear of the pump housing on an NA that seems to fail and although the rule of thumb and good practice is exactly what CW and others have mentioned. If one has failed then as they are all the same age then they should all be checked, but this particular plug seems to fail more frequently than you would expect. It failed on my old NA and I replaced it, I also pulled a few of the other plugs I could get to out and there were all mint, but the one in question had a tiny area of corrosion and a hole. I decided to replace just the failed plug and of course the others that I had pulled as after taking them out they were knackered.

To to my amazement just 18 months later the new plug in the back of the housing failed again, in exactly the same place. I cant explain why it would fail twice in such a short period of time but it did. Maybe I was just really unlucky and the replacement I used was bit of a dud. Curiously I have not read of any cases of plugs other than this one causing problems, if you do a quick search, this one has failed for a few people. Cant remember if it was a 20 or 25mm plug, but its a small one and cost only a quid or so if you buy one on its own.

The downside of this is that you need to remove the crank pulley, cam belt and water pump to get to it.

There is a 20mm ish plug at the rear of the pump housing on an NA that seems to fail and although the rule of thumb and good practice is exactly what CW and others have mentioned. If one has failed then as they are all the same age then they should all be checked, but this particular plug seems to fail more frequently than you would expect. It failed on my old NA and I replaced it, I also pulled a few of the other plugs I could get to out and there were all mint, but the one in question had a tiny area of corrosion and a hole. I decided to replace just the failed plug and of course the others that I had pulled as after taking them out they were knackered.

 

To to my amazement just 18 months later the new plug in the back of the housing failed again, in exactly the same place. I cant explain why it would fail twice in such a short period of time but it did. Maybe I was just really unlucky and the replacement I used was bit of a dud. Curiously I have not read of any cases of plugs other than this one causing problems, if you do a quick search, this one has failed for a few people. Cant remember if it was a 20 or 25mm plug, but its a small one and cost only a quid or so if you buy one on its own.

 

The downside of this is that you need to remove the crank pulley, cam belt and water pump to get to it.

Ah really?

Hmmm interesting, so its right on the front of the engine behind everything basically yeah? I shall try and look at that at some point, really I'm just hoping the rad weld will hold until I have the time and money to buy the tools I need to drop the engine and then do the job properly.

There is a 20mm ish plug at the rear of the pump housing on an NA that seems to fail and although the rule of thumb and good practice is exactly what CW and others have mentioned. If one has failed then as they are all the same age then they should all be checked, but this particular plug seems to fail more frequently than you would expect. It failed on my old NA and I replaced it, I also pulled a few of the other plugs I could get to out and there were all mint, but the one in question had a tiny area of corrosion and a hole. I decided to replace just the failed plug and of course the others that I had pulled as after taking them out they were knackered.

 

To to my amazement just 18 months later the new plug in the back of the housing failed again, in exactly the same place. I cant explain why it would fail twice in such a short period of time but it did. Maybe I was just really unlucky and the replacement I used was bit of a dud. Curiously I have not read of any cases of plugs other than this one causing problems, if you do a quick search, this one has failed for a few people. Cant remember if it was a 20 or 25mm plug, but its a small one and cost only a quid or so if you buy one on its own.

 

The downside of this is that you need to remove the crank pulley, cam belt and water pump to get to it.

ive justhad my water pumpo changed due to this, but i didnt realize it was the plug until after. the only reason i changed the water pump was because of a new head gasket cambelt etc so did it as a precaution really lol

The reason this plug is prone to early failure is cavitation of the water around the plug. ask any power boat owner what cavitation does to the propeller of their craft. It erodes the very thin electroplating on the plug and the oxygenated water then corrodes the bare metal rapidly. Keeping quality antifreeze at a goodly strength helps, but it probably could be justifiably called a design flaw that would only show in extended real world usage.

You haven't owned up whether it's N/A or T.T.

Sad as it sounds, if it's an N/A it would be cheaper for you to have another engine swapped in than to pay a garage to change the core plugs.

ive justhad my water pumpo changed due to this, but i didnt realize it was the plug until after. the only reason i changed the water pump was because of a new head gasket cambelt etc so did it as a precaution really lol

I did the water pump on my '94 Celica last year and noticed a leak around there last week. Think I'll have a closer look at it before I strip it all down again just in case it's a core plug. I know they're quite different engines to the Supra, but definitely worth a look.

Thanks guys