Need info on rear of KA24E block

[moondog52]

Ok here's the ugly and sad story ...

I need some pics or advice on what the rear of the block on my 89 240sx hatchback looks like ... and how I could have a huge water leak there! Is there a freeze plug in the block in the bell housing that blew?

I just got the ol' girl back on the road after 3 years and a lot of work. I've been checking fliud levels the last 2 weeks of enjoyable driving (had 'er over a hundred). I always check for leaks on all my cars when I'm around them. Then we had 2 days of straight rain here in Tucson ... I was driving homeand it stalled. Temp guauge was at 1/2 ... overflow tank was half full. Restarted and drove about 2 miles to a gas station.Engine was very hot ... finally I touched the radiator and itwas stone cold! Makes sense ... no water in it, d*mn! gauge isbroke? What's with the overflow tank? Sheesh! Waitied about 20 minutes and started to pour water back in *slowly* ...she spat then I heard a POOF!!! at the rear and water pours out.

Engine was still running fine (but hot) when I parked it ...

If it's a freeze plug in the bell housing I think I'm just gonna give up and sell it. I have no place to work on it now.

--

[proimport17]

Sounds like a freeze plug but check your heater hoses very carefully. Radiator should not have been cold though if it was that hot the steam would have raised the temp in the radiator making it even hotter

[p00t]

my vote is on heater hose too, for water to be pouring out the back of the engine wouldnt the block have to be cracked? meaning it wouldnt be running...

fill it up again and look with a light at those heater hoses....

[moondog52]

It'd be great if that's what it was ... I probably won't get a chance to check it out until this weekend tho. I do wish someone could just confirm if there is a freeze plug on the backside somewhere.My Chilton's doesn't have any detail at all on that.

--Brad, driving his new Dodge Dakota 4x4 now

[NISTECH]

yes thers one on the head and one on the block

[moondog52]

Thanks a bunch nistech. I'll take a closer look just to double check the heater hoses. I'm pretty sure the water is just dumping out of the lower bell housing so it's most likely the one there. My best guess is that one was slowly leaking over the 2 weeks I had it on the road again ... may have gotten worse during the rainy days ... that's why I didn't see it coming. It's funny (not!) because a buddy at work and I are always joking about checking each others cars for leaks when we walk by our cars at work ...

Most likely i'll be putting her up for sale in a few days. Thanks for everyone's help.

--Brad

[moondog52]

Turns out it was the rear side freeze plug. Wasn't that hard to replace, and it's running fine again.

Thanks for the suggestions.

BTW, I am selling it now ... I have 3 vehicles now

http://68.63.200.254/240sx/

I thought I'd post it FS here first, then if there's no interest I'll give ebay a try.

[moondog52]

The car has been sold