intake valley (oil galley) 3/4" cup plug leaking - use sealant/RTV??

[rockin_rick]

I took off my intake and ran the oil pump with the drill and discovered that the 3/4" cup plug in the back of the block is leaking. It's letting about as much oil out as one of the pushrods. Should I replace it, seal it, or leave it alone?

Should I use sealant/RTV? How should it be applied?

This is on my new short block assy. This is actually the second cup plug that I put in. The first I used a bit of RTV and put it in. Then got worried that I shouldn't have used the RTV, so I drilled it and pryed it out and installed a new one dry. Mistake?

How can I fix this? If remove and replace, how can I remove the old one without getting drill shavings into the oil galley? What's the proper method to install a new one?

Thanks,
Rick

 

[timewarped1972]

well as for getting it out, if you can get it cocked at an angle and pull it out with pliers thats one way, just like you would a freeze plug. ofcourse if your worried about knocking it further in you may have to get crafty but because that is an oil galley i would shy away from the drilling...........however, if your talented, you could take a small bit, like 1/16, and drill it to where it is almost through or barely through, and try to put a screw in it and pull it out that way, that would minimize the chips but that would be a last resort!!
as for installing the new one, when the old one is out clean the hole real good, and use some carb cleaner on a lint ffree rag to ensure its clean and dry. they make some sealers for stuff like that, checker used to sell this stuff called and i kid you not " indian head " gasket sealer. a light coat of that can help. what they usually do though is something called " stakeing it " which is where after the plug is installed you take a chisel and kinda steak or hit a couple sides of the the block itself. so the block has a couple sharp spots that keep the plug from coming out under pressure. i'm not sure how to explain that procedure...........lol..........but it's easy to do.

 

[rockin_rick]

I've heard of the indian head sealer (little brown bottle), but never used it. Also familiar with the staking method, never though to use it here, though. Is this a good idea? Wouldn't it f*up the hole for future service? Would it help the seal?

I don't think that the plug has pushed out any from where I installed it. Perhaps it's not all the way in (I think it is). When I installed it, I used a socket that fit into the inside of the cup and tapped it in. Should I have tapped on the outside rim of the plug? Perhaps 'pushing' the inside of the cup down has weakened the 'spring' force of the edges. Don't really think so, but

Thanks,
Rick

 

[timewarped1972]

as long as the socket was reasonablt sized in proportion to the plug it should'nt have made the plug more concave hense making it looser......i know they stake plugs in conjunction with usin that sealer.....usually staking the plug hole doesnt screw it up to bad. you should only have to mess with that plug when the engine is rebuilt anyway so having the plug staked in i wouldnt think would be a problem......but see what every one else says and see if they have any alternative suggestions that may be better.............

 

[rockin_rick]

Yeah, I chose the largest socket that would fit into the cup. I guess I wouldn't really have a problem with staking it if I knew that it would solve this problem. But my luck, I'd have to take it out again AND deal with the staked hole.

Thanks for the advice,
Rick

 

[gopher_6_9]

Simple, just take the bit and dip it in wheel grease that will catch 99% of the shavings), then drill very carefully and then yank it out and install a new one, run it for about 15 minutes and change the oil.

 

[rockin_rick]

Would it be better to use a worn out bit? Maybe it would generate smaller shavings. Will the grease trick actually catch that many shavings? Seems like I've tried that before and still got a lot of shavings. What about a magnetic solution?

My concern is any shavings in there will be fed to the tiny holes in the sides/around the lifters. I wonder if I were to remove all the lifters and then after drilling, run the drill on the oil pump 'flushing' out those passages. Change the oil, replace lifters, check for new cup plug leaks

Does this sound like a reasonable compromise, or is this a bad idea?

Rick

 

[rockin_rick]

Thoughts/opinions?

Thanks,
Rick

 

[timewarped1972]

i am trying to think how far down that passage goes. for example, even with freeze plugs you usually can knock them in and then get ahold of the edges and yank it out with pliers.........but i'm not sure how far down that plug would go if you just knocked it in..........a dull drill bit would probably just make smaller shavings and take longer........as i said before if your carefull and you maybe used grease as suggested and a very small bit then after the small hole is through you could carefully thread a srew in and pull it out.........i dont recall people having to drill them like that though i think it may be possible to just knock it through and retrieve it with some angled needle nose pliers..........you may wanna get a confirmation from some one on that though as im not 100 percent positive..... also, if its already a little loose on there carefully taping one side of it might enable it to **** at an angle to where you can just grab it with some pliers........

 

[rockin_rick]

I think that it almost or does bottom out in the hole. IIRC, it's kinda stepped. I've taken one out before when I had the engine on the stand. Since it's only 3/4" in diam, it makes it harder to rotate like that. And with it being almost bottomed out, that doesn't really work. (as far as I can tell )

How about some RTV on the new one? (ONLY if absolutely necessary, IMO.)

Thanks,
Rick

 

[timewarped1972]

id use some of that indian head stuff on a new one as that stuff is made to seal more permanently than rtv....then stake it a time or two..........also, in the above post i was trying to say hit it at an angle so that it calks side ways...........i used a more traditional method of spelling it and it got *** out..........lmao.........go figure.