Are you keeping up with your vehicle maintenance? I thought I was.

For some time now I knew I was leaking coolant from somewhere on my 2001 Dodge Dakota. It has a 3.9L V6 so there are not that many places it could be. I always kept an eye on my coolant leak and poured some in once every few (4-5) months. Well I finally found the culprits, two freeze plugs.

So last weekend I go to the auto parts store and get 4 freeze plugs (since there are various sizes, it's always good to have some extras on hand). I replaced the rear two (one on each side) in the block. It took me the better part of the day and I also found out that my caliper slide bolts were not letting the calipers slide so I had to get new rotors and pads (no big deal). I also found out that someone (probably the PO) RTVed the inner pads to the calipers and striped out the hole in the spindle for the lower slide bolt on the passenger side. I wasn't about to replace the spindle (too much $$$ right now) but I got the brakes done and the new freeze plugs in.

Well for this whole week, I have been keeping an eye on the underside and noticed that it is still leaking coolant. I completely forgot to inspect the front two freeze plugs that are behind the motor mounts.

Well here it is early Saturday morning and I started this yesterday after I got home from work. One side is done and the other is draining.

The point of this story is to make sure that you are keep up to date with all the maintenance that your vehicle requires. My freeze plugs were corroded out from the inside. I have put on ~45,000 miles on the truck since I bought it and have done a "flush" (drain and replace the fluid) on the coolant system. Turns out, I should of done the real flush and got all of the junk out.

So if you haven't given your car or truck a good going over, do so this weekend. You might be surprised what you find.

 

Thanks for the reminder
I know what you mean about keeping up with the preventative maint. Its a real suprise how time flies when were having fun or we have to many toys to take care of in the free time we have. Glad you didnt end up with a big bill out of the problem. I forgot to change the rear axle lub on my winter plow truck and it cost me all the bearings and the axles. So I try to cover the bases.
Have a Good One

 

Well two of them are leaking. Heather is doing a search and this appears to be a common problem with the Dodge Dakotas with the 3.9L V6 like mine. WTF were the engineers thinking installing just cheap, low cost, cr@ppy plugs? Why not brass so that they don't corrode?