So I've been reading the several posts on how to properly flush the coolant at home. It seems like a lot of work( I know its worth it). I decided to call up ford to see how much it costed to have them flush it, and to see how they did it.

Cost at ford 119.00
Guy states they do use VC-9
He states they use Tap water
I asked if I could bring in Distilled water and he says yes
He states I'll need to bring in about 6 Gallons of Distilled.

My truck has 49,000 miles on it. Just bought it last may with 37000 on it, no issues that I have known of. I do most of the maintenance on it myself. I know that ford recommends 100,000miles before flushing but taking everyone else's advice I'm gonna do it/ have it done this weekend.

I dont mind paying the 119 bucks but I'm worried that he said it would only take 6 gallons. I've read of people using anywhere from 20gal up to 40.

Since my truck is still fairly low miles, should I just have it done at ford or should I take the day to do it myself? I would rather have ford do the work but if you all think that the 6 gallons means they are cutting corners then I will do otherwise

I have not seen any puking or white rings/buildup in the degauss. Truck is a 2006.

 

You should be more worried about the cost $119 which is not correct. The cost of VC-9 alone is around $50-60 now throw on 3.5 gallons of antifreeze at $40-50 you are looking at 2+ hours of labor to do a VC-9 flush. Walk away and find a real Ford dealer that services diesels on a regular basis.

 

This joker cannot do the job at that price even if he charged you for parts alone (VC9 is pushing $50, plus 3 gallons of coolant ford coolant is not cheap).

If you are really going to do this, toss in a coolant filter install at same time.

Expect to be out the door (with coolant filter) for under $500.

Watch them do it.

Read the TSB on how it is suppose to be done.

 

thanks for the responses guys. I do have a coolant filter installed just a lil after I bought the truck. So with that said I'm guessing the price is gonna be around mid 300's. I'll walk in and talk to someone in person and see if they quote a diff price. If not, I'll check one of the other dealers in town.

 

bigred66,

Depending on your time committments, I would encourage you to try doing it yourself if you consider yourself somewhat handy. It appears you've been doing some maintenance on your own so I think this should certainly be something you could handle especially if you're not planning on taking out the thermostat.

I'm not even close to being an expert wrench by any means, but I'm planning on doing this myself and not pulling the thermostat. That way I know for sure how it was done.

Good luck.

 

What is the VC-9 ? Is it for the extended life of the antifreeze , we've got some cat , cummins , komatsu engines and they all pretty much have the extended service antifreeze in them and believe me even cat doesn't rake you that kind of cash. My 03 has 118,000 miles so it's time. As long as I'm here how difficult is it to change the crankshaft sensor? Thanks

 

It is a commercial grade boiler cleaner that specifically targets the problems with rust and scale build up in the motor.

 

ya you got quoted the wallet flush price. figure aboy 3-4 hours labor involved to do it.

 

And of course you would use 6 gallons of water or less because you have to put antifreeze in it. In my case, I mix 70/30 because I need protection to -50. Not that it gets that cold here, but it comes close sometimes. I only used about 3 gallons of distilled water.
When I did mine, I took someones advice and removed the t-stat, and was really happy I did. I did the VC-9, and then after I drained it, I left the block plug out and ran tap water in the degas, when it started running out the top, I fired the engine up and let it run for about 10 minutes, and adjusted the "level" with the radiator drain plug. I shut it down and let it drain, did a distilled water flush and drive, then filled it up with gold and distilled water. I don't know if this was the correct way to do it, but I didn't have much choice since the tranny cooler had started leaking into the radiator, and I needed to get rid of the oil. (It worked)
Question for the experts...would doing it with a garden hose in the degas/engine running/draining work in place of doing 3 or 4 flushes? I cut my filter apart a few weeks after I did it this way and found very little crud, wondering if I should do it this way next time, because it's sure easier. Not trying to hijack, just trying to add info.

 

look up guzzels site and do it yourself

 

If your local water have low mineral content, I would do that.

If it is high in minerals, I wouldn't touch it.

The 50,000 mile change interval assumes tap water.

 

Why not just flush with tap after the VC-9 until clear, then follow with 2 distilled water flushes. That should remove 90-95% of the minerals left over from the tap water.

 

Not necessarily.

The water where I am at present is so hard that it is loaded with calcium and other hard minerals.

It would leave deposits.

Drinking Water Hard Water Hardness Calcium Magnesium Scale Stained Laundry