freeze plugs fell into water jacket

[cashark]

I did something bad, hears the reader digest virsion,..I was replacing a freeze plug that fell out of my explorer (1996 4.0 engine) I never done this before butt i looked easy enough, it took me three trys to get it in, my problem is the first two fell into the water jacket of the block. ( i know stupid!) is their any way to get them out? my explorer run for a while ( few weeks) then overheated ... I was told i cracked the heads or head gaskets. I used some " steel seal" which i bought online for the cracked head or gaskets which seemed to work just fine, but now it overheats right away and coolant does not seem to be flowing. I removed the t-stat to see if coolant was flowing in the rad. but it just comes out the top of the cap. could these freeze plugs that i dropped into the water jacket be blocking the flow?

 

[old mechanic]

Anything is possible but there are probably millions of vehicles riding around with freeze plugs inside their blocks.

 

[cashark]

That's what I was thinking (that I wasn't alone in dropping a few in the water jacket) I'm still having problems with overheating, I've flashed the rad. and I dissconnected both rad. hoses then I ran water through the upper hose and it run out the lower. I ran water through the top of block where the t-stat is and water ran out the lower hose. But when I tried to run water through the lower hose it seem to be blocked? water just ran out of it (lower hose) My next questions are can a water pump block the flow of coolant going into the engine? And can a water pump go out without any leakage from the weep hole? the fan turns normal so should'nt the inside of pump turn and push the coolant through? or can the inside stop pushing the collant even if the fan is turning?

 

[old mechanic]

That's what I was thinking (that I wasn't alone in dropping a few in the water jacket) I'm still having problems with overheating, I've flashed the rad. and I dissconnected both rad. hoses then I ran water through the upper hose and it run out the lower. I ran water through the top of block where the t-stat is and water ran out the lower hose. But when I tried to run water through the lower hose it seem to be blocked? water just ran out of it (lower hose) My next questions are can a water pump block the flow of coolant going into the engine? And can a water pump go out without any leakage from the weep hole? the fan turns normal so should'nt the inside of pump turn and push the coolant through? or can the inside stop pushing the collant even if the fan is turning?

-----
You need to check the usual problems first like bad thermostat (put the thermostst in a pan of HOT water and see if it opens up), fan belt slipping, bad hoses, pluged radiator, bad water pump,
I have seen many times that when everything seems to be ok, the lower hose usually, but the upper sometimes, will be weak and as you drive it will close up and you will overheat.
As for the water pump, usually it will leak out the bottom hole when it goes. The only thing that really goes on a water pump is the bearing.
Disconnect the negative battery cable, grab the fan blades top and bottom and rock back and forth, if it moves your bearing is gone.