Hey guys,

I know the coolant capacity is supposed to be 8 gallons (or 32.75L) somewhere in there, but I drained my coolant the other day and refilled and I only got 6 gallons back in it.

That seems like too much capacity for locked up air to be the culprit, but that's why I'm asking.

I drained the...

1. Radiator drain plug.
2. 2 hoses at the bottom of the radiator.
3. Driver's side block drain plug
4. Passenger's side block drain plug
5. Heater hose (nothing came out of this spot - but it was the last spot I drained)

Any thoughts if this is normal or what I'm missing?

Thanks,

Mods - could you add "- Air in coolant system" to the title? It'd make it more accurate. Thanks.

 

When you refilled, did you run the engine long enough for the stat to open to purge the air?

 

I ran it till the engine was holding at operating temperatures, and I've also driven it twice... once about 8 miles / second time - about 12 miles. It seems to have come down just a bit after the trip in, but we're talking only maybe 1/2" below the min level (on the overflow tank)

 

I wouldn't sweat it. You likely did not get all the old stuff out despite pulling all the drain plugs. Did you do a flush as well?

 

Nah - I didn't have the tools and more importantly didn't really think it super necessary (thought draining it would get everything out - but maybe not).

You really think I left between 1.5 gallons and 2 gallons in the system after I drained everything out?

Is there any main advantage of flushing beside guaranteeing that you get out ALL the old fluids? I guess had I known that there'd be that much left in the system, I would probably have made more of an effort to flush it - or at least diluted the old coolant better by filling and draining the system with water at least once.

 

Well, you have the heater core that was still likely full or mostly full, and you will have pockets of fluid in the block, oil cooler and miscellaneous hoses.

Biggest reasons to flush are when switching coolant or known contaminated coolant.

 

Thank you for all the help. Next time I will definitely flush with water a minimum of once and probably twice.

Do you guys bother catching the second drain or third if you do a third?

Assuming one drain removes 6 gallons, the second fill up takes the antifreeze content down to 12.5/87.5 of water to antifreeze. The next round (if my math is right) is 3.125/96.875 water to antifreeze. I'd be surprised if any of you caught that 3rd round, but I'm wondering about catching the 2nd round.

Thoughts?

 

First off to be done properly you need to flush with distilled water. If you are changing coolant types, IE: to an ELC you need a thorough flush. At least three changes with distilled (drive about 150 miles with each). When I did mine I did the initial flush with tap water and then three with distilled.
At that point for the 50% mix add four gallons of CONSENTRATED coolant and top off with distilled.

 

Yeah. I was thinking about using distilled water throughout the draining/refilling process.

Question still remains... When you drained and filled the first, second or third times, did you capture (or at least try to capture) all the fluid?

Thanks

 

When I flushed my system while installing the IH water pump I did the following.

- Bought 40 gallons of distilled water (I live on well water, so that is no good for the engine
- Drained as much coolant out of the system as I could
- Destroyed the thermostat to allow for constant coolant flow
- Sealed/closed the coolant system up
- Filled the system with distilled water through the degas bottle
- Found 1 empty gallon jug and plumbed the degas bottle fill line to the empty bottle sitting in front of the truck
- Turned the heater on full blast and started the truck
- Keep an eye on the distilled water in the degas bottle and fill with new water as it goes down
- Keep an eye on the evacuated coolant bottle that is on the floor and being filled by the degas refill hose
- Fill degas bottle when needed, swap in newly emptied jugs for the ones that are being filled
- Once you either run the coolant until clear and flushed or you run out of fresh distilled water jugs, shut the truck off
- Drain the cooling system again
- Replace/install new thermostat and other hoses/parts as required
- Refill with 4 gallons of concentrate ELC (if your engine is OK with it or coolant mixture of your choice) and the rest of the capacity with distilled water
- Keep an eye on the degas bottle level until you are satisfied it is settled and good to go
- Most of the 7.3 trucks like to let the coolant sit about an inch below the fill line, so does mine

 

Gooch's Coolant Flush Procedure, plus all the coolant info you can shake a stick at

Stewart

 

Heck no. Too much work...and math!

 

As far as draining the distilled out, after three flush cycles all that should be left in the block is distilled. That is why you use the four gallons of concentrated coolant first. When you top off with distilled you will have the 50% mix that is called for.

 

Here's my experience with flushing the system out with a hose vs. filling with distilled water and driving around: Driving it around does a MUCH better job of getting junk out. The flush kit that you attach to the heater hose will push water through the system, but not enough to pick up and carry out any debris. I flushed until it was clean with the hose, then drained and re-filled 2 or 3 times with distilled water. Each time I drained it, a lot of debris poured out of the engine through the block drain holes.

Or maybe my engine was just full of junk.

I'm doing another flush again in the next week or whenever it stops raining. My coolant system was contaminated with soot, oil, or both and it needs it. I will probably refill with distilled water, drain, and repeat until the water runs clear.

I'm tempted to use cascade in it, if the water isn't cleaning it well enough. Does anyone know if you're supposed to drive around with the cascade in it?

 

Gooch's instructions were very helpful.