I am on my 3rd go round of the distilled water (still have a more to go)....and the problem, or atleast I perceive it to be a problem, is that when I open the drain **** on the bottom of the radiator it only lets out 3 gallons. Even if I do the drain **** AND the bottom radiator hose......

Coincidentally, I am only able to pour in 3 gallons of distilled water and then the degas bottle is full!!

There are 4 gallons of Ford coolant I am supposed to add to the system, per the flush procedure listed in the tech manual.

Am I missing something?

Edit: 2005 f250 6.0 auto 2wd 104k

 

There is a plug in both sides of the block, towards the rear. That will get about 1/2 a gallon... The plug on the passenger side is behind the starter, not worth the effort IMO.. It is a long process, did mine last weekend.

 

1. Drain coolant
2. Add 2 cans of VC-9 and top off with distilled water.
3. Drive 20 to 30 miles, preferably at highway speeds.
4. Drain radiator at petcock first, then pull lower hose. Then remove block plug on driver side. Not necesary to do passenger side.
5. Remove t-stat. To do this, remove air cleaner. Then 2 nuts on t-stat housing. Pry press. sensor bracket off of studs. Tight fit but it will move. Remove 2 more nuts and pull t-stat and housing from studs.
6. Remove t-stat and put housing back on. Re-assemble everything and fill with distilled water.
7. Run at 1200 rpm's for 3 to 5 minutes and drain as described in step 4.
8. Repeat 4 to 5 times or untill water coming at is as clear as water going in.
9. Install t-stat using new O ring. I used vaseline to hold the O ring in place.
10. After everything is re-assembled fill with a 50/50 mix of Ford premium gold or Zerex GO-5.
11. Start engine and check for leaks. This is a lot easier and quicker than it sounds. If you don't remove t-stat then you have to run truck between each flush till t-stat fully opens and then let cool down to work on it.

Highly recommend installing coolant filter kit while cooling system is empty.
Hope this helps.

 

69cj, so how are you pulling the Tstat? Mine is one piece, the only way i see is to cut the guts out with a dremil... Not to mention the old oring grew an inch since installed.. lol

I may cut the guts out of the old Tstat for the next flush!

 

The t stat will twist out of the houseing

 

Once you get the thermostat housing out out, turn it upside down, push down on the bar that engages the housing and rotate it 90 deg then lift it out of the housing. It will make sense once you try it.

 

Nice... that would have save me alot of time...:/

Thank you guys, that will help for next time!

 

Here is a couple of pics of the t-stat, so folks will know what it looks like. Just push down and turn.


Locked:


Unlocked:

 

Good pics Bill. Maybe they can attach them to something in the tech folder if you don't want too much in royalties. LOL

 

Use em anyway you wish. I've posted them before. I know I looked for pics of the thing before I took mine out the first time and didn't find anything. I always appreciate knowing what things look like before digging into it.

 

Thanks bpounds! Removed my old Tstat last night a put it in my tool box...

 

The cooling system capacity is seven gallons. When I flushed mine I only got 3-4 gallons each time I drained it. That is why it takes several flushes to get it clean. The balance is hiding in the heater core IIRC.
An earlier poster suggested adding 50/50 antifreeze, that is not a good idea because you have a fairly large amount of distilled water in the system. After the last drain you must add 3 1/2 gallons of 100% coolant and then top up with distilled water. That way you know you have a 50/50 mix in the system.

 

One concern i have on mine is that I have had to add coolant twice since my flush. The first time the degas tank was nearly empty, the second time it was about 1/2 ince below the min line.

I added a filter dering the process, so hoping that accounted for it... No leaks that i can tell, and no steam out of the exhaust...

 

Mine took a couple of runs to settle down, there could have been air trapped in the system that has been pushed out now

 

Mine too. You're going to want to watch the level for a week or so, until it stabilizes and all the air is purged.