I want to flush my V10's cooling system. This is one of the few jobs I am willing to pay for due to the mess and disposing of the fluid, etc...

I had my original dealer do the job at 50k but I have had some issues on warranty work with them on our other cars and I am losing faith in them.

I actually went to another dealer the other day and had an 8:00am appointment. The service guy checking me in walked around the truck and asked if my rear drum brakes were working ok. I just laughed and said yes but thought what in idiot. Then come to find out they need the truck all day. I said I had an appointment and they said that was just a check in time. I asked for my keys back and left. It was like I was having a panic attack thinking of them working on my truck and keeping it all day.

Now the question. I have an independent mechanic close by that I have used a couple of times in the past on the kids cars when I didn't feel like messing with them. He uses "pink" extended life antifreeze. I have motorcraft gold in it now. Is there any harm in switching to pink if it's during a flushing operation?

Thanks.

 

What year is your truck?

I would stick with Gold. I recently switched from Green to Gold in my 99 using distilled water to flush. Next time I will use a Motorcraft flush product.

 

Motorcraft VC-1 flush
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NU16UA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&cre ativeASIN=B000NU16UA&linkCode=as2&tag=fordt-20&linkId=J3IWTAIRUSF4WVFT

Fordtechmakuloko coolant flush tips
https://youtu.be/RWIXa50R9bo

 

My coolant is at least 218,000miles/4.5years old.

I recently found a crack in the top plastic radiator tank. I’m ordering a new radiator today.

Ill be dealing with the same questions about my 2007.

 

I'm not opposed to doing it myself but the next couple of days it's single digits here. My garage is heated but my garden hose is frozen solid.

 

I would definitely not put pink in it. From what I've heard, Gold is best and green is OK. But I think you should stick to either of those, since you have Gold in it now, no reason to change.

So you had a full flush at 50k? What is mileage at now? You may be fine with just a drain and fill. That should get a little over 50% of the current coolant out. Then maybe 20-30k later you can do another drain and fill and be close to 75% or more of new coolant.

 

I am at 75k now but the flush at 50k was a little over 5 years ago.

Drain and fill....as in just open the petcock on the bottom of the radiator and drain it? then refill with the right mixture?

 

I'm a big fan of Prestone Antifreeze. Flush and refill with a 50/50 mix. I have it in my Ford truck, GM car, and the Crusader 8.1s engines in my boat. Can't go wrong.

 

I would not use a garden hose for a coolant system. Distilled water is best, doesn't have the minerals.

Drain, thermostat, fill good to go.

 

I just found that my 2nd E series has the exact same crack on the upper plastic tank. Looks like I’m replacing two radiators and buying double the coolant.

Since im removing both vehicle radiators, does anyone have a smart idea how to flush thoroughly? All I can think of is putting the bottom rad hose into a bucket of distilled water. Or somehow use compressed air to blow out the old stuff.

 

What do you do with the old stuff? Do you have locations that accept it?

 

Here's what I did:

Drain the old antifreeze into an empty container"s". Refill with your garden hose. Take it for a 20 min drive. Drain again, then refill one more time with the garden hose, then another 20 min drive. Drain for the last time, and refill with a 50/50 mix of Prestone and distilled water. Most local garages will accept your used antifreeze for proper disposal.

Goes without saying you do not want to do this in sub freezing temps! About zero F here this morning! LOL!

 

My county takes chemicals and stuff here.

 

You can wait until spring to do it. Your a little over 5 years but your mileage is low and I know for a fact the Gold coolant can go much longer than that and still be ok.

I only use the Gold coolant because I know it works and it last.Don't see the need to change what works and price is about the same as others.

I threaded and epoxied a garden hose fitting into an old degas bottle cap. Once I had the old coolant out I ran the truck with the garden hose on full thru the degas cap and made and left the radiator plug out. The cap helps keep the engine dry and a piece of cardboard or something behind the radiator drain the truck. Ran it like that for at least 20 minutes at idle. The truck was pretty warm right before I hooked the hose up and started the flush. You can reverse flush the heater core too if you want also.

This is basically the procedure I followed.

 

That's a good video. Doesn't look too bad at all. Thanks!