volvo penta 3.0 freeze plug dislodged

daveb43

Recruit
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
5
When starting our volvo penta 3.0 this year one of the freeze plugs on the port side of the engine block came out. Is it possible for these plugs to come out without the engine freezing? We completely drained the block and water pump last fall so I am puzzled and concerned as to why this came out. We cranked the engine quite a while before we realized we had disconnected the ignition wire. It doesn't seem likekly but could this cause it?
 

Don S

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
62,321
Re: volvo penta 3.0 freeze plug dislodged

Those plugs don't just fall out, the are pushed out by freezing.
When you drained the block, did you take a wire and make sure the hole in the block wasn't plugged up?
 

daveb43

Recruit
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
5
Re: volvo penta 3.0 freeze plug dislodged

Yes we did use a wire to make sure there was no blockage in the drain plug. I'm puzzled as to how water could be left that high up in the block and freeze after draining it.
 

Don S

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
62,321
Re: volvo penta 3.0 freeze plug dislodged

Hard to say. Put a new core plug in, plug the hose going from the thermostat housing to the manifold, and pressure test the block to see if it holds pressure. It should hold 15 psi.
 

doyall

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 9, 2012
Messages
277
Re: volvo penta 3.0 freeze plug dislodged

I had a 3.0L OMC do the same thing several years ago at the beginning of the season. Never could figure out why either. Got a complete water drain on winterizing so freezing didn't seem to be the culprit. I just cleaned the hole with some steel wool and installed a new plug with Permatex gasket sealant on both the hole and the plug and never had another problem. You certainly do need to use a new plug though.
 

daveb43

Recruit
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
5
Re: volvo penta 3.0 freeze plug dislodged

I had a 3.0L OMC do the same thing several years ago at the beginning of the season. Never could figure out why either. Got a complete water drain on winterizing so freezing didn't seem to be the culprit. I just cleaned the hole with some steel wool and installed a new plug with Permatex gasket sealant on both the hole and the plug and never had another problem. You certainly do need to use a new plug though.

Thank you for your post. I feel a little better to hear of someone with a similar problem . However we re installed the old plug without doing any research. So I suppose we can expect it to come out again probably at some inconvenient time.
 
Top