Leaky freeze plug on 3 cyl. Diesel

I simply don't need the freeze plug. It hardly ever gets below 20F here, it's only below 32F for about twenty days spread evenly throughout the fall and winter and rarely for more than about seventy-two hours straight. In addition the tractor is run strictly on a fifty-fifty anti-freeze/water mixture and kept in an insulated (although not heated) garage.

Can't I just seal the damn freeze plug hole up? How would I do that?

I have not ever worked on that model, but assume that it is not easy to change the core hole plug. If it is in a location that you can get to, to remove the plug and replace it, I would be tempted to install a new one with epoxy for a sealer after first cleaning the hole out very well. I doubt that it would leak after that, but it might be a real pain to remove it if you ever want to rebuild the engine.

Some people call the core hole plugs freeze plugs, but I have never seen one actually come out from freezing...but I have seen many blocks cracked from freezing water inside. Good luck!

I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough in my original post. This is now the THIRD time this plug has failed since about 2000. My fear is that something has happened to hole in the water jacket the plug seats into; otherwise they would not be failing with such regularity.

As I pointed out, I run this tractor on a strictly 50/50 anti-freeze water mixture so rust is not likely the culprit.

I am not prepared to simply have the plug replaced according to the usual shop procedure. One can't simply repeat the same process over and over and somehow expect a different result! (Insert your own Iraq joke here.)

Obviously, the correct solution is to replace the water jacket. I'm still in denial about this; I hope to pass on through bargaining and acceptance, but in the meantime...

If this was only a little coolant leak I wouldn't sweat it so much; but this business of having to take the tractor to shop every few years so they can split it and put in a new clutch is not acceptable.

Option two-brass freeze plug, lasts 10 to 20 years.

Option three-find appropriate pipe tap, thread the hole and screw in a iron or brass heavy plug, lasts as long as the engine block does.

You pays yo money an you takes yo choice.

Rod