quick ? on coolant flush procedure in 6.0 bible...:)

[6litrefan]

Here is the link for one of the coolant flush procedures in the 6.0 bible....my question is on step #5 it says "Drive truck until temp guage goes to normal and thermostat opens."...ok so you of course start procedure with a cold truck i assume...so once you do the first drive after adding distilled water..and you get her up to operating temp and pull it in the drive and drain and refill.....can you immediately do another drive or do I have to let the truck cool back down..."which would take hours...lol"...What i am saying is that once my truck reaches operating temps and i shut it down...it is at or close to temp for a long while after shut down...so pretty much need to know if i can do these drives with distilled water back to back or do i need to wait for cool down in between.....I would think not but thought I would ask to make sure...thanks for any input guys! Ryan

[bismic]

I did not want to put cold water in a hot engine. I waited.

[6litrefan]

That is a good point Bismic...yeah i guess that would be a good way to crack a block...how long did you wait in between..i mean is this something that can take days too complete?

[bismic]

I just chose to do mine on a day when there was a lot of football on. Just took my time. I guess I waited an hour for it to cool. 69cj just did his and he removed the thermostat. His way is better since he did not have to get the engine hot, but mine worked fine for me. Also, his way is what is described in the Workshop Manual.

[69cj]

Pull the t-stat and you can do a flush in 5 min. and the engine never gets hot enough for the next batch of fresh water to hurt it. 5 flushes takes a long time with the t-stat out and a lot longer with it in. For the drain I, 1st open petcock, 2. pull lower hose and 3. pull block plug on drivers side. Reverse procedure for next flush. Do 5 times with distilled water and the last flush will look like you can drink it.

[BobbyB]

Why distilled water?

[69cj]

Originally Posted by BobbyB

Why distilled water?

No minerals or other crap in it to contaminate cooling system. Also a good time to install coolant filter if you don't already have one.

[Powerstroke_wannabe]

I also waited an hour between drain/fill cycles. Aside from what's already been mentioned, this allowed the fluid to cool so that there was no risk of getting scalded when I drained the fluid.

[69cj]

Originally Posted by Powerstroke_wannabe

I also waited an hour between drain/fill cycles. Aside from what's already been mentioned, this allowed the fluid to cool so that there was no risk of getting scalded when I drained the fluid.

Pull the t-stat, run for 5 min. and you don't have this problem.

[6litrefan]

69cj...where is the t-stat and how do you remove it???.......

[69cj]

Engine side of upper radiator hose. Four nuts. Remove two nuts then pressure switch bracket. Then two more nuts and the assembly comes off. Depress and rotate t-stat to remove from housing and then reinstall housing with old O ring. When all work is complete reinstall t-stat and housing with a new O ring. 5 bucks at dealer.

[03-6L-X]

I think this was written by Beachbumcook:
Based on what has been stated above you can either leave Tstat in or out.

6.0L Coolant Flush Procedure

Here is what you do.... (I do it every 50,000 miles just because it is fun to do and I am anal about my maintenance).

1) Buy 4 gallons of Ford Premium Gold coolant at dealer

2) Buy 15 gallons of distilled water at local grocery store.

3) Drop lower radiator hose until empty.

4) Reconnect hose and add distilled water to degas bottle until full.

5) Drive truck until temp gauge goes to normal and thermostat opens.

6) Repeat steps #3 through #5 no less than 4 or 5 times (depends on distilled water amount used) - I can't remember?

7) You now have 100% distilled water in your system.

8) Drop lower hose 1 last time, drain and reconnect.

9) Look in manual for your system capacity and for a 50/50% refill of coolant just add the coolant straight into your degas bottle up to the amount that equals a 50/50% concentration.

10) Start motor and add distilled water to bring system level to the MIN mark on degas bottle.

11) Drive truck around to open thermostat and let cool 1 or twice to purge any air. May need to add more distilled water (don't add coolant)... but when done you have flushed your entire system and have a perfect 50/50% concentration of coolant and distilled water!!!!

[bismic]

Pulling the T-stat speeds up the process a BUNCH! .... and I would not use the VC-9 without pulling the thermostat.

[6litrefan]

Hey 69cj....so what you are saying is that with the stat removed, I would not have to actually go out and drive the truck i can just let it idle and circulate in the driveway for 5 minutes???...and then drain and fill again immediately...?

[BPofMD]

That's what he said......