Engine: Flathead 6 coolant leak

[FrankMT]

I'm on the struggle bus. I recently recovered a 1950-51ish 2R5-12 Serial # R5-53130 with engine # IR77343 that has been sitting abandoned for over a decade. The motor turns free and shows no signs of damage. While assessing the engines condition I added coolant to the motor and detected it weeping out a small hole on the drivers side rear just behind the oil filler tube. Despite my efforts researching this site, the shop manual and the internet I am still on the struggle bus. If someone can throw me a bone and identify the reason the engine is losing coolant and help me get off this bus I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance, Frank in Montana

[Ross]

That is the block drain. That should have a 1/4"-npt pipe plug in it. Your are probably going to have to re-tap the hole to ever get the plug to start.

[FrankMT]

Thank you my friend. I can now get off the bus with peace of mind. I really appreciate it!

[Big Dan]

That is the block drain. That should have a 1/4"-npt pipe plug in it. Your are probably going to have to re-tap the hole to ever get the plug to start.

Ross is RIGHT! I'll post a picture of what that looks like without all the stalagmites. It's just aft of the lower back freeze plug where the starter mounts to the bell housing

When I started on my engine (that had been sitting in the AZ desert for about 25 years) one thing I found is it was FULL of packed rust dust! I pulled the freeze plugs and spent days of digging and flushing to get that out. Then I used Engine flush twice while letting it sit in the engine for a couple days before draining. The head had been warped and it leaked like crazy and I'm sure a lot of the solid matter was cooling system stop leak.

I bring this up because if your cooling jacket is clear, water should POUR out of that hole and drain your engine in about 4 to 5 seconds. I'll post that picture and the link where I showed all this stuff. Hope that helps.

PS Hmm I can seem to find my post on the cooling jacket clean out, so I'll just repost a couple photo's (wonder what happened to it?) You can see the
hole and the plug in most of the photos.

[FrankMT]

Thank you for the sound advice and pictures....all are of great value. I'm very grateful

[skyway]

Yup! I’d suggest power washing, or better yet taking a steam genny, to that block. Then see just what you’ve got. In addition to that threaded block drain plug, you’ve got several press (and then punch) in core plugs. Remove them all & then power wash & coat hanger the inside of the block to remove what will probably be a stunning amount of silt, rust, & casting wire.

[FrankMT]

You bet! The radiator had been removed and when I ran some water through the inlet the field mice hoard came dribbling out. I'm certain they had a condo built in there and stored their nuts and grains throughout the engine coolant tunnels. Thanks

[tsenecal]

The truck looks salvageable. Good luck with your new project! Not sure if you know of the Studebaker Truck Talk site. This forum is a great source of knowledge , and the truck talk site focuses more on the trucks.

[FrankMT]

thanks. I will check it out.

[FrankMT]

Just in case I picked up a spare running engine. Came out of a Studebaker car (type and year unknown). It's currently coupled to a Borg Warner automatic air cooled tranny.

[BRUCESTUDE]

I recently worked on a friend’s’47 Commander flathead 6, and there was NO drain plug; crud had create a somewhat effective plug! Once I cleaned and retapped the hole , I removed the core plugs and flushed out mega sludge!