Loose item in water jacket

[jed_laski]

Hi! I have been replacing my oil pan gaskrt recently wich involved rising engine etc. so had to loose alternator support/water pump bolt. Wich i didnt know that it goes through and holds water load. So i bought a ramrod from a gun shop and started to clean the bolt.thread to apply loctite etc. What happened is that the crappy ramrod brush loosened, spearated from handle and stuck inside. After numerous tries to pull out i accidentally pushed it inside. At first i was panicked, but later i remembered that i have bare 5.2 magnum block and inspected the area where it has gone and found out it may not interrupt anything. So how do you think guys, is it okay if it just stays there forever until rebuild and pulling the caps out? I doubt that it can go into water pump because of brush. The engine is 318

 

[Duke5A]

I would be more worried about it plugging a passage up. You could run and see what happens I guess.

Almost all of the water pump bolts go into the water jacket. It's possible to damage the cylinder sleeve if you use bolts that are too long.

If you were concerned about cleaning the threads up on those holes always use a bottom tap. A little RTV on the bolts to seal and put it back together.

 

[jed_laski]

I have original bolt and recently ordered tap for cleaning the thread. From what i found out online the screw is 3/8 by 16 in UNC standard?

 

[volare 1977]

I wouldn`t be more than once I have seen old freeze plugs pushed into the block and left there.

 

[Duke5A]

I have original bolt and recently ordered tap for cleaning the thread. From what i found out online the screw is 3/8 by 16 in UNC standard?

Yes, all the accessory bolts on the front of the motor are 3/18"-16.

1/4"-20
5/16"-18
3/8"-16

Those are pretty much everything you find in these cars with the exception of screws. Bolts come in either coarse or fine thread. All of the above are coarse.

 

[jed_laski]

Thank you very much, that helped me alot. Duke - sent pm

 

[jed_laski]

Well the ramrod object got up as i started to fill water in the engine and started to knock on the pump blades. I removed the pump, the little surface scratches are visible but the object fell inside again. This is getting bad

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

Well the ramrod object got up as i started to fill water in the engine and started to knock on the pump blades. I removed the pump, the little surface scratches are visible but the object fell inside again. This is getting bad

So wait...could you leave something like the pump off while you attempt to fill the block with water...idea being: flush "out" that part by letting it float up first where you can catch it?

This means you might have to toss some kind of a rubber plug into the opposite side of the block where the coolant flow openning is (as well as anything else that remains open) and leave just that one open spot where the ramrod can float up to.