cold weather...one gallon of just water...didi i just smoke my motor?

so i have a vortec headed 350 in my 50 f-1. the trucks not complete, the last time i fired it up was about a month ago if not longer. with that said, we've been hitting almost 0 degrees a few nights here in denver, and i went out to my garage today to find water all under my truck. it looks as though it's leaking from the head gasket/freeze plug area, i tasted it...sure enough pure water ( i bought it from a guy in TX who had run the motor to break it in).

so my question is; what should my next step be, like i said i haven't fired it up at all, should i tear it down, or is it a possability that i have cracked my block? it looks like all the freeze plugs are there, but that doesn't mean one still can't be leaking right?

thanks for any insight you guys can offer me...oh man what a fuckin day

 

you may have a problem, and maybe not....you will have to crawl under it and take a very careful look. a good light and a mirror if necessary. there are freeze pugs under the motor mounts on both sides that are hard to see , plus two in the bell housing area that you can not see at all

i wouldn't think it would be a head gasket , but you never know

 

You didnt have antifreeze in it??

 

1. Look for any visable cracks. If you can't see any......
2. Clean up the water on the floor and the engine.
3. Fill the engine with water.
4. Look to see where the water's coming from.

 

Check the freeze plugs ,There is also some underneath the trans where it bolts to block .Take thermostat out and reseal and pour antifreeze dilluted in until it starts leaking. If its a freeze plug no problem ,If its a block your screwed.......

 

A freeze plug isn't actually a freeze plug. There used for casting.
If your engine froze its probably shot.

 

That sucks. I flush and fill the cooling system every year in My race car. I run water/water wetter wile racing and put 50/50 mix in the winter. I keep the car in a heated garage but always afraid the power will go out or something. I will cross my fingers for You that there is no cracks. My engine builder always pulls the block plugs before He ships out any motor. He told me a story of a 30k sprint car engine that froze and cracked the block. In the 4 hr ride in the back of the costomers truck.

 

We don't have hard freezes here, but we had one in 1985 that froze a engine of mine, I6. The freeze plug behind the flywheel pushed out, cracked the head.

Ice hanging off the side of a engine is a sad sight.

 

check for water in the oil. look for water beads on the dip stick or if you get it started and the oil is milky looking its usually not good or even drain it and look for the water to come out first. Ive personally seen two frozen small blocks and both were about 1/3 of the way down from the deck and about half way front to back. One was a buddys and the other, don't ask

 

I'd borrow a pressure checker form autozone or some one and cap off the water pump outlet and pressure up the thermostat housing, that'll tell you quickly if it holds pressure or is a leaker. Outside cracks can be welded easily with cast rod.

 

Ownership of an old car is really more like a caretaker,,
neglect inevitably leads to more work or a complete loss.

 

thanks for the help. i guess tomorrow i'll get under there and start looking around. if it ens up being the block...oh well, i'll buy a good shortblock and swap everything over. i'll update tomorrow maybe with some pics

 

Aren't the Vortecs suspect to intake gasket leak issues? You have to use the Fel-Pro gaskets on them, even the GM ones suck.

 

true and false. True they are used as part of the casting. False is they put brass freese plugs in those holes so when you do happen to forget to put antifreeze in and the water freezes it's supposed to push out the freeze plug and save your block. Not that things always work that way.

 

G'day, Up here in N. Dakota it can get a bit cold and we see our share of freeze damage. If your lucky it may have just cocked one of the freeze plugs. I have seen "hard" frozen engines actually survive with just a couple of plugs pushed out. However, I have seen the blocks crack just below the deck or in the lifter valley. The worst was a couple that had actually heaved or bowed an entire side of the block. Make sure the sides of the block are still parallel.

I would suggest adding coolant dye, using a pressure tester to pump it up, and check it with a uv light.

 

I may get in trouble with the powers that be but I call bullshit to that.
Brass freeze/core plugs are there so that salt water doesn't corrode them so fast in boats or at least that was the original use before car guys fell in love with them for the same reason. They do not corrode like steel plugs do especially for the guys who run straight water and don't use antifreeze.
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Well if you do find a plug has popped, pull it out and replace it with a block heater. Hope it's not behind the bell housing.

 

Freeze plugs, core plugs, whatever you happen to feel like calling them, the result is the same. They are the weak spot so when water DOES freeze, they do tend to pop out and usually save the block, whether that was by design or not. Sometimes, of course, they do NOT work like that, and your block freezes, and usually ruining it.

 

I think the guy is gonna be looking for a new block. There's a LOT of water jacket below the "freeze" plugs, and if we remember, water expands in all directions when it freezes, not just up. It isn't like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube. I always drain the block in my Chris Craft, via the little brass petcocks, but then fill it with RV anitfreeze, as the engine sets at such an angle, putting the petcocks, which are in the center of the SBC block, at about the halfway point in the water jacket. Lot's of undrainable water stays in.

 

had a 454 freeze here & it pushed most of the frost plugs out. i pulled the trans replaced the frost plugs back there & a couple in the sides along with the water pump. the water pump impeller snapped also. after that i drove the engine over 10,000 trouble free miles but then it started heating up.
a local engine builder here said he'd seen the same thing happen a few times.
from the stress the valley under the intake would cobwebb up with stress cracks along with other places & sure enough a good ol 454 down the drain.

 

jeez...so even if i didn't fire it up or anything, just the fact that water expands when it freezes is going to trash my block? shit haha. i guess it's no big deal considering most of the work on the truck is in the heads, cam and valvetrain, at worst case, a new shortblock should be needed. i guess i'll do some investigating here.

 

just got under there, oil is ilky on the dipstick, right below the heads on both sides near the front of the motor, it's cracked all to hell. my block is toast. can i still salvage my rotating assym?

 

that sucks

yes , your crank/rods/camshaft etc should be ok

 

Bummer, you should be able to use the rotating assy with a new block.

 

All of that will transfer to a new block. So, you are out the cost of a new block, plus whatever extra parts (gaskets, machining, etc) you have to perform on the new block. Expensive lesson, but likely one you will not repeat again, I'm sure.

 

Man I hate that it happened to you. I had one freeze and bust with antifreeze in it. 2 years ago. It sucks. saved all but the block. Good luck....

 

man that really sucks

now let's see some pics!

 

i'll get some pics tonight, i'll be working on her

 

that was never the manufacures true intent..as stated these were to get the sand out of the casting forms..and coolant passages after the block was cast.
the MFG..didnt care if you were complacent and didnt put anti freeze in your block..that would have just ended up in them selling you another block or complete engine.
job security..

If they were intended to pop (the casting plugs) than there would never be any blocks cracked due to freezing..some times people get lucky and one of the plugs go before the pressure on the block is enough to crack it..
think about this
freeze plug was a name some one came up with the first time they got lucky..and the term stuck. Kinda like an urban legend

 

What you need to do ASAP is to pull the plugs and spin the engine, best to do it with a ratchet if no water comes from the cyl's then spin it on the starter to be sure. Spray WD40 in the holes. Right now just the block is cracked, tossit stuff, to salvage the expensive parts you need to make sure the water isn't in the cyls. Drain the oil to get any water out of the crankcase. You'll need to pull the engine apart very soon to limit water damage.