# Ford 4500 - What is this freeze plug?



## kkl (Jun 7, 2011)

I just bought a Ford 4500 and am trying to familiarize myself with it. On the right side of the engine compartment, just behind the radiator, is a freeze plug. timing marks are on the casing. When I look inside, I see a large gear and no oil level. I have a copy of the manual but can't identify this. What is this freeze plug accessing and should there be some kind of oil level inside?


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

My John Deere has a simular deal on it and it's for adding motor oil aside from the filler at the top of the engine.


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## jhngardner367 (Apr 5, 2011)

That looks like the fill/check area for the fuel injector pump drive/timing gears.You can see the fuel injector pumpis mounted to the left.


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## kkl (Jun 7, 2011)

jhngardner367 said:


> That looks like the fill/check area for the fuel injector pump drive/timing gears.You can see the fuel injector pumpis mounted to the left.


Makes sense. I can't seem to find this in the operator's or service manual. There is a large gear down the tube. Should I be checking or filling any liquid here? Thanks for helping the clueless.


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## FordPuller9000 (Jun 6, 2011)

kkl said:


> Makes sense. I can't seem to find this in the operator's or service manual. There is a large gear down the tube. Should I be checking or filling any liquid here? Thanks for helping the clueless.


That is not a freeze plug. That's the oil fill location. The gear you are seeing is the injection pump drive gear and the crankcase oil lubricates it. This is not a seperate compartment for oil, it is the same one as the rest of the engine. The only engine oil level you have to check is the one at the dipstick on the opposite side of the engine. When you need to add oil because it is low or being changed, you do it through this opening. 

F.Y.I. Freeze plugs are usually pressed into the block, and are not made to be removed by hand. The are either driven out or ice pushes them out, and on occasion rust out.


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## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

It is the filler cap for engine oil. When you are filling, oil runs down into the sump at the bottom of the engine. The gears in front are lubed by oil splashed around under the cover in the front. Maybe this picture can help:
http://www.brokentractor.com/ford_files/ford-engine 007.jpg

Check engine oil level with dipstick on left side of engine, dipstick seen here:
http://www.brokentractor.com/ford_files/ford-engine 005.jpg
and, if needed, add engine oil through the pipe where the filler cap sits.


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## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

Well, there you got it twice...


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## kkl (Jun 7, 2011)

Thanks guys very much for the help. It seems kind of silly to me now that it wasn't obvious, but in my defense, it's not listed on the Lubrication and Maintenance Chart in the manual and the attached picture is what they say the oil fill should look like.

As far as the term "freeze plug", I'll defer to FordPuller9000's expertise, but some places do call something like this a rubber freeze plug or rubber expansion plug. Example of the "controversy": Rubber freeze plugs? - JeepForum.com. Mine has a knob rather than a nut to expand the rubber plug.


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## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

Early on, the filler cap was situated on the valve cover, like the picture shows. No wonder you got confused.

Freeze plugs are actually just a way to fill the holes in the engine block that are requiered to empty the block from moulding sand after casting. The plugs make no guarantee against cracks in the block. They may pop out, but you may also get cracks at other places on the block.

Edit:
Just read that the same thing I wrote in the second part above is covered at the JeepForum-link that kkl provided...sorry.


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## farmertim (Dec 1, 2010)

In Australia we call "freeze" plugs Welch plugs see; Core plug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Welch plug was originally designed by the Welch Brothers of the Welch Motor Car Company of Pontiac Michigan in the early 1900s.

This from Wikipedia;
"At that time core holes in the engine blocks were fitted with pipe plugs. During one of these run-ins a pipe plug backed out. In order to get back on the road one of the brothers drove a quarter or half dollar into the hole. From this they developed the Welch plug, some with the help of my Great Grandfather Martin Hubbard. They then patented the plug and the M.D. Hubbard Spring Company become the sole manufacturer of the Welch plug for the life of the patent."[2] The Welch plug being the domed disk which is fitted against a shoulder in the core hole and then the dome struck with a hammer to collapse the dome and expand the disk to seal the core. Other core plugs are a dish design when pressed into the casting hole the tapered sides form the seal. These core plugs do not require the shoulder inside and are the principal design used in modern engines.


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## annonymous99 (Nov 9, 2011)

*Ford 4500 Oil Filler*

Have the same tractor, Ford 4500, and could not find the oil fill location. The manual specifies it is on top of the rocker covers near the crankcase breather. But it is not there! It is pictured in the picture you took. Thanks for the pict and information.


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