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That day a freeze plug let go on I-40 outside Nashville
Last winter I was hauling a load of produce east on I-40 when the temperature dropped fast. Around mile marker 210 near Nashville, my old Freightliner started running rough and blowing white smoke. Pulled over at a rest stop and popped the hood to find a frost plug had popped clean out of the block. That let all the coolant drain out onto the asphalt in under a minute. I had to call a local wrecker to tow me to a shop in Lebanon where a buddy of mine worked. We ended up brazing in a replacement plug and flushing the system twice to get all the gunk out. The whole mess cost me 8 hours and $350 in towing and parts. Has anyone else dealt with freeze plugs letting go in older trucks during a quick cold snap?
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elizabethhayes5mo ago
Man I feel your pain on that one. Cold snaps are brutal on these older rigs, freeze plugs are like ticking time bombs when the temp drops fast. I had a 1978 Ford F-250 lose one on a backroad in Kentucky once, coolant everywhere and I was stuck for hours waiting on a tow. Sounds like you lucked out with a buddy in Lebanon, that tow bill could've been way worse.
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adamgreen4mo ago
Aren't freeze plugs supposed to be designed for this exact kind of temperature shift, not fail because of it?
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