block coolant drain

[mark sweetser]

hey, where is the coolant drain plug for the block on an '87 5.0 HO? also heard them called freeze plugs. call me a dumbass, i can't find it/them. my car is running HOT out here in Vegas....already swapped the thermostat, no change...temp guage acts as if thermostat is slow to open, or gets stuck closed for a while....temp gauge damn near maxxes out to red. when i drained my coolant from radiator, only a few ounces came out. the car was run 3 hours prior w/ temp gauge skyrocketing. could i have a blocked radiator? i was gonna do a rad flush to see if i could flush the crap out, if any...but can't find block drain plug(s). help?

[Dark Knight]

You dont want to pull the freeze plugs unless you pull the engine. They're along the side of the block.
Mine used to overheat like that because the radiator was plugged. Flushing only cleans so much.. easier to just replace it. Did you replace the thermostat and put it in backwards? Water leak anywhere?

After you changed the thermostat, did you start it and fill it more?

[mark sweetser]

thanks for getting back to me. i installed the thermostat w/ the spring side toward the block, this is how the old one was. is this correct? does the gasket go on, then the thermostat...or is it the other way around? i skipped the flush and changed to a new radiator, since old one looked original. NO CHANGE, damnit! still runs hot. no water leaks anywhere. water pump isn't leaking from the seep hole, no play in the shaft. however, there is a slight whine noise coming from front of block area. what about the fan? how do you diagnose a fan problem? it spins freely at all times, no bent/damaged blades. fan shroud is good. thoughts?

[Dark Knight]

Hot on the temp guage, or boiling over? Put a new radiator cap on? Check the plugs to see if it's to lean?

[mark sweetser]

hot, but not boiling over. i just changed the plugs 2 months ago, it failed emissions...so i changes the plugs and O2 sensors, passed. plug gap is as specified, .050 i think it was. i'll pull a few, but what will they look like if motor is lean?

[mark sweetser]

i'll swap the radiator cap and try...if that doesn't do anything, i'll change water pump. it is whiny. at least sound seems to be coming from there.

[Dark Knight]

If the guage stays low, then shoots up, it usually means that the radiator is low, or there is an air pocket. One thing you might check is for a blown head gasket too..there's a dye you can get that tells you if there are combustion gasses in the radiator.
Does it cool off when you drive, or does it stay the same?

[mark sweetser]

after engine start-up temp will rise to mid-range, and keep creeping all the way up to about 250-260 deg where it will hang for a few minutes (about 3) then will come down into the mid range (about 200 deg). if at a stop/idle, temp will shoot back up to 250-260. giving it gas to make rpm's climb at a stop will bring it back down some (about 220). once driving again w/ normal rpm's, temp stays in mid-normal range. after swapping thermostat and radiator, if i leave idle after engine start and motor was cool, ...temp will stay dead center (i let it run for 10 minutes, it was like a rock)...where as before, it would skyrocket at idle. however, as soon as you get it on the road, temp climbs. WTF?