I was thinking about flushing my coolant system, and was wondering what the best method is?

 

Hi

I would just go to my local Firestone, Goodyear etc etc and have them do it. No fuss, no muss, no mess. They pressure flush with chemicals, add new coolant, plus lubricating additives. You have disposal of hazardous chemical issues otherwise. Cant just dump on the ground like we did in the old days.

Vince

 

If your coolant is currently "fresh" looking ( nice green color, no brown/milky color), just change it out with a fresh mix. Other wise take it somewhere for the power flush.

 

I work in a dealership and had done many many coolant flushes, or at least that's what they seem...

The flush cost just includes up to one gallon, the 5.4 motor takes about 4 gallons of 50/50 coolant/water mixture.

In general the coolant flush machine all it does is suck the old fluid (using vacuum) maybe up to 2 gallons and adds whatever it sucked back in the system thru a reverse vaccum. The flushing additive added to the reservoir never gets to do its job, and the other additive (stop leak), is something I wouldn't put in my radiator.

if you really want fresh coolant this is what you can do; with the engine cold, removed the upper hose and run fresh water thru the motor (running) until no more dirty coolant comes out (using proper disposing of old coolant) then reinstall upper hose and add 50/50 water/distilled water. You would need 4 gallons total.

Bleed the system (make it burp/remove air pockets) and you should be fine...




ttp://www.f150online.com/galleries/mygallery.cfm?gnum=7516

 

I just drain/fill the radiator on a regular basis. Pop the drain plug, let the old stuff drain out, dump in two gallons of 50/50 mixed coolant. Been using Supertech premix for a few years, works good. If your coolant comes out looking bad simply repeat the drain/fill in a few weeks to get more fresh fluid in the system and more dirty coolant out.

 

I HAD a 2001 Super Crew with radiator problems.

My lower radiator hose was leaking where it conected to the engine. It seemed to be under tremendous pressure (changed 2 clamps) and my top hose you could squeeze very easily. (had radiator flushed in May) I took it by a couple of garages, they said new radiator or a new pump. I just did not like the inconsistant answers I was receiving. I remembered a buddy telling me about this site. Yall, know the feeling of being nickle and dimed.

I read many post. Reading about upper soft hose lead me to believe air had gotten into my engine where radiator fluid should be and it would not let it circulate. Hence strong pressure on lower hose and none on upper hose.

Anyway, 99Tx, this worked like a charm. It took about 30-45 minutes. At first (10 mins) no fluid was coming out. I thought well this doesn't seem to be working. So I tried putting the water hose in the upper hose (reverse) and filled it up (prime it I thought) it helped alittle after if burped some out. It still however was not flowing much. So I repeated this 3-4 times had a buddy iddle it up alittle and WAMO it started flowing. I ran it til it ran clear. Not a leak on the drive way 2 weeks later. Top hose has more pressure so I know its working correctly.

Thanks
Derek

 

I will be adding coolant soon to the F-150, see when I bought it someone just put plain water in the system, not good! I want to get as much of the plain water out and fill with coolant and distilled water. After reading a few post on the subject how do you bleed/burp the system to get rid of the air pockets?

Thanks

 

Just pull the lower radiator hose, and run water up into the engine and into the radiator a couple times with a garden hose. Push the hose up into the truck a little, and make a seal around it with your hand.

since you live in texas you can get away with a weaker then 50/50 mix. I did one gallon of (premium motorcraft gold) coolant and the rest (distilled) water.

If you are close to waco tx i wouldnt mind giving you a hand and showing you how its done

Just run the truck until the thermostat opens, and cycles through the whole radiator, then let it cool down and top it off. do that about 3 times and you are good. Just make sure its cooled down a little before you rip the cap off or you are in for a hot wet suprize

 

Thanks I will do that, no way I'm close to you. I live at the most southerntip of Texas my freind! But thanks on your freindly offer amigo.