flushing antifreeze/maintenance
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,346
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From: Connecticut
flushing antifreeze/maintenance
Ok Ive read flushing,colors of coolants and so on and ect till I have completely confused myself..My truck has 96000 on it.I have test strips but havent tested it yet.Its a 2002...Looks green in color.What should I be using exactly to put back in my truck after a flush?Ive read so much I cant see straight.It seems certain years take certain colors.I just want someont to tell me what I should use....If test strips come out ok should I still change it?I read 100,000 was a magic number somewhere..When putting those block plugs back in do you need to put some teflon tape on them?Do I have to take block plugs off?I dont want to cause any problems for what seems like should be such a simple procedure
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2010
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i was in the same ballpark with mileage as you are ,when i flushed my system. Had the green coolant, so changed to the ELC, along with a new airtex w/p. I removed the plugs for draining, replaced both top/bottom hoses, flushed with 20gal of distilled water, then re-installed plugs (had them slightly seated for flushing) with trflon, and filled up system with 4gal elc, 4gal of distilled...it is an easy procedure, just time consuming. I used a 10 dollar kid pool from wal-mart for flushing.. 
Senior User
Joined: May 2011
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From: West ID
Yea go with an ELC like Rotella, CAT, etc. and be done with it for several years. I wish I could run ELC in my E99, seems to have lots of advantages and is easier on the water pumps from what I understand.
Super Moderator
Joined: May 2004
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From: Central Coast of CA
..My truck has 96000 on it.I have test strips but havent tested it yet.Its a 2002...Looks green in color.What should I be using exactly to put back in my truck after a flush?
Ive read so much I cant see straight.It seems certain years take certain colors.
I just want someont to tell me what I should use
Stewart
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,677
Likes: 979
From: Walpole, MA
Ok Ive read flushing,colors of coolants and so on and ect till I have completely confused myself..My truck has 96000 on it.I have test strips but havent tested it yet.Its a 2002...Looks green in color.What should I be using exactly to put back in my truck after a flush?Ive read so much I cant see straight.It seems certain years take certain colors.I just want someont to tell me what I should use....If test strips come out ok should I still change it?I read 100,000 was a magic number somewhere..When putting those block plugs back in do you need to put some teflon tape on them?Do I have to take block plugs off?I dont want to cause any problems for what seems like should be such a simple procedure
100k is the magic number for gold, ford recommends that you change the green stuff every 15k miles.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2009
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From: Connecticut
Yea the color of mine is actually a transparent gold, I pulled some out of degas bottle yesterday.where did you get the zerex? Wallyworld has none. Napa? I need 4 gallons of pure concentrate right?
Postmaster
Joined: Jan 2009
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From: Glen Rose,Texas
When I flush mine I do not bother with the plugs.Drain the radiator.Pull the thermostat and reinstall the housing.Fill the rad with DI water and let it run several minutes.Keep flushing untill I get clear liquid.Install a new thermostat.I used the ELC and have had good luck.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2009
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From: Connecticut
Is it neccasary to change therm? 97000 miles. Not leaking and still works. Not looking to cause more problems leak wise and spend a ton of dough just for a coolant change?
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Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: Walpole, MA
Where are you in CT?
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2009
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From: Connecticut
East hampton
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: Walpole, MA
Gotcha, not far from New Britain right? They destroyed my HS when we played them...they were pretty nasty.
Really your truck will run fine on G-05 or ELC. Between three vehicles I have put 200+k on them and they are fine. Most PSD people love ELCs cause they are low maintenance and have the HUGE service intervals. One thing to note, most have a year requirement thrown in there too, so most ELCs are designed to be run for 6-8 years.
Really your truck will run fine on G-05 or ELC. Between three vehicles I have put 200+k on them and they are fine. Most PSD people love ELCs cause they are low maintenance and have the HUGE service intervals. One thing to note, most have a year requirement thrown in there too, so most ELCs are designed to be run for 6-8 years.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2009
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From: Connecticut
Should I change the therm as well? Are they known to go around this mileage? I would need the housing and gasket as well or is that included. Im gonna change to the dual alt upper hose as well if serpentine belt goes again.. Changed it 10000 miles ago.A mess because of that hose..
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: Walpole, MA
Should I change the therm as well? Are they known to go around this mileage? I would need the housing and gasket as well or is that included. Im gonna change to the dual alt upper hose as well if serpentine belt goes again.. Changed it 10000 miles ago.A mess because of that hose..