Flush or not to flush? Please read.
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Junior User
Joined: Aug 2013
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Flush or not to flush? Please read.
Question is to radiator flush or not to flush.
2006 Ford Sd 6.0 of course. 83.5k on it.
I have hear everyone say to flush it, every 50k. Ford manual says 100k on normal use. I do not tow anything really yet.
Dealer looked at the coolant, tested it and they say its fine.
I have also read lots of people say don't do it endless you have to. The chemical causes problems to the old cooler. I think it was rust or something. The going story is about a year, year and a half the oil cooler will be toast, and dealers want tell you this. Sources ford cert. techs, from 5 to 25 years Exp. I am new to deseils, but I have read about this motor for a year, daily, hrs and hrs.
Don't know on this one. I don't use it hard, as far as towing. I changes the cap, and temps are always with in range. Thought on my delema? Thanks in advanced.
2006 Ford Sd 6.0 of course. 83.5k on it.
I have hear everyone say to flush it, every 50k. Ford manual says 100k on normal use. I do not tow anything really yet.
Dealer looked at the coolant, tested it and they say its fine.
I have also read lots of people say don't do it endless you have to. The chemical causes problems to the old cooler. I think it was rust or something. The going story is about a year, year and a half the oil cooler will be toast, and dealers want tell you this. Sources ford cert. techs, from 5 to 25 years Exp. I am new to deseils, but I have read about this motor for a year, daily, hrs and hrs.
Don't know on this one. I don't use it hard, as far as towing. I changes the cap, and temps are always with in range. Thought on my delema? Thanks in advanced.
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 8,241
Likes: 155
From: L.A. (Lower Alabama)
You are monitoring EOT/ECT? Don't rely on the dash gauges.
If everything is ok temp-wise I say flush it, with Vc9 and open BOTH block drains. Garden hose first then switch to distilled for the last couple drains.
If temp spread is getting close however, a flush could spell the end for the oil cooler so be prepared to do some work changing it out or try dropping the coolant and replacing with SAME type. Or let it ride and keep your fingers crossed.
If everything is ok temp-wise I say flush it, with Vc9 and open BOTH block drains. Garden hose first then switch to distilled for the last couple drains.
If temp spread is getting close however, a flush could spell the end for the oil cooler so be prepared to do some work changing it out or try dropping the coolant and replacing with SAME type. Or let it ride and keep your fingers crossed.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,723
Likes: 5
From: Roseburg, OR
First, buy a Scangauge2 so you can find out your deltas. Program in the Engine Oil Temperature and take it on a drive. Drive it at 65 mph at close to 1800 RPMs for 15 minutes(after motor is at operating temperature) then check your temperatures. If they are more then 15° apart, you need a new oil cooler. So a chemical flush wouldn't hurt. If its under 15° just flush it with distilled water and replace coolant.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 854
Likes: 17
From: Florida
A yr ago I flushed with VC9 and restore. My deltas were 10-11 and they actually improved a little bit afterwards. I bought everything just in case (oil cooler, etc) but have not needed it. I was flushing because it was 3 yrs. I say flush it out. Get a coolant filter if you don't already have one. I switched to ELC - that's your call.
Junior User
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 67
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I'm in the same boat, just put a coolant filter on, noticed a tiny bit of sand/rust in the bucket when I drained out some coolant. My deltas are good and I have a egr delete and I'm running Ford gold. I'm not sure what to do......
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,590
Likes: 1
Question is to radiator flush or not to flush.
2006 Ford Sd 6.0 of course. 83.5k on it.
I have hear everyone say to flush it, every 50k. Ford manual says 100k on normal use. I do not tow anything really yet.
Dealer looked at the coolant, tested it and they say its fine.
I have also read lots of people say don't do it endless you have to. The chemical causes problems to the old cooler. I think it was rust or something. The going story is about a year, year and a half the oil cooler will be toast, and dealers want tell you this. Sources ford cert. techs, from 5 to 25 years Exp. I am new to deseils, but I have read about this motor for a year, daily, hrs and hrs.
Don't know on this one. I don't use it hard, as far as towing. I changes the cap, and temps are always with in range. Thought on my delema? Thanks in advanced.
2006 Ford Sd 6.0 of course. 83.5k on it.
I have hear everyone say to flush it, every 50k. Ford manual says 100k on normal use. I do not tow anything really yet.
Dealer looked at the coolant, tested it and they say its fine.
I have also read lots of people say don't do it endless you have to. The chemical causes problems to the old cooler. I think it was rust or something. The going story is about a year, year and a half the oil cooler will be toast, and dealers want tell you this. Sources ford cert. techs, from 5 to 25 years Exp. I am new to deseils, but I have read about this motor for a year, daily, hrs and hrs.
Don't know on this one. I don't use it hard, as far as towing. I changes the cap, and temps are always with in range. Thought on my delema? Thanks in advanced.
I seriously doubt that a year to a year and a half later failure has anything at all to do with a chemical flush.
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Junior User
Joined: Aug 2013
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I had ford do there checks, oasis report. It only had a bad fuel line. All the oil changes were done at a ford dealership. The ran the all the temps, egt, eot, ect, and they said it was good.
So do you think just to be safe run tap water first flush, the distild water for a few other flushes? Put a coolant filter kit on, replace collant 50/50 ( do I use distild water in this mix?) then go.
Also do you guys like the synister kit or the no cut line kit better?
So do you think just to be safe run tap water first flush, the distild water for a few other flushes? Put a coolant filter kit on, replace collant 50/50 ( do I use distild water in this mix?) then go.
Also do you guys like the synister kit or the no cut line kit better?
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2012
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From: Phila, Pa
I have sinister. I flushed with tap water and then restore about 2,000 miles ago, its starting to get cold here in Pennsylvania and I noticed that I didn't have heat on those cold mornings,so I figured it was time for a heater core back flush, and boy was I right I had sand all the way from the heat control valve all the way to the heater core,the heat control valve and the hose to the heater core were completely blocked with sand!
so here's my 2 cents, no matter what you flush with I think you should always disconnect the heater core hoses, and back flush from there each and every time!
so here's my 2 cents, no matter what you flush with I think you should always disconnect the heater core hoses, and back flush from there each and every time!
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,402
Likes: 114
From: Tuscaloosa, AL
Unless I am badly mistaken, chemical flushes are really used if you're having problems such as elevated deltas or blown EGR or Oil cooler. If you change to ELC EC-1 coolant, perhaps a chemical flush should be executed.
If you're not changing coolant type and are not having problems, just tap water rinse, then rinse with 15 to 20 gallons of distilled (until it runs clear), and top off with coolant concentrate. Backwashing the heater core is very easy and should be done at least after 100k miles. But since you're dumping $80 of coolant in the system and because its so easy, I would backwash the heater core too.
The system holds 7 gallons of coolant. If you drain the radiator, it retains about 5 gallons. If the block drains are pulled, it still holds 3.5 to 4 gallons. If the block drains are not pulled, it will take at least 6 flushes of distilled water before topping off with coolant. It takes at least 4 flushes of distilled water before topping off with coolant.
If you're not changing coolant type and are not having problems, just tap water rinse, then rinse with 15 to 20 gallons of distilled (until it runs clear), and top off with coolant concentrate. Backwashing the heater core is very easy and should be done at least after 100k miles. But since you're dumping $80 of coolant in the system and because its so easy, I would backwash the heater core too.
The system holds 7 gallons of coolant. If you drain the radiator, it retains about 5 gallons. If the block drains are pulled, it still holds 3.5 to 4 gallons. If the block drains are not pulled, it will take at least 6 flushes of distilled water before topping off with coolant. It takes at least 4 flushes of distilled water before topping off with coolant.
More Turbo
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 551
Likes: 19
You shouldn't have to use the VC-9 flush, but I would use the Fleetguard Restore.
I flushed mine over 100,000 mi. ago and I'm still all original, the most important step IMO is to back-flush your system before you add the new coolant. You can hook up your garden hose to the vent line coming into your degas bottle from the EGR cooler, with the block drains open you will clean out whatever is in there.
I currently have about 190,000 mi. on my '07, without any cooling system issues. As was mentioned above, you would be wise to install a coolant filter.
I flushed mine over 100,000 mi. ago and I'm still all original, the most important step IMO is to back-flush your system before you add the new coolant. You can hook up your garden hose to the vent line coming into your degas bottle from the EGR cooler, with the block drains open you will clean out whatever is in there.
I currently have about 190,000 mi. on my '07, without any cooling system issues. As was mentioned above, you would be wise to install a coolant filter.