For our next installment of “Name Shame,” we will cover freeze plugs. There is a general misconception that freeze plugs are made to pop out if the engine coolant freezes, keeping the block or head from cracking. While it seems logical, the real purpose of these casting holes is to remove the casting sand. There actually have been many a block cracked with the freeze plug still in place. These pictures are core plugs from a Cooper Bessemer engine—they are the equivalent of a freeze plug. Learn more at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.
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