Need Advice on Cooling System
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Trailering
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 18
Likes: 1
Need Advice on Cooling System
I bought a '69 F250 with a 360 this past spring, which had lived its whole life as a California truck. Trouble is, it's at my parents' home in Illinois right now, with a cooling system full of straight water. From a bit of googling and reading on various forums, I've worked out where the drain plug should be on the block, but I've also read that they are notoriously difficult to remove. As a temporary fix, before the weather gets too cold, would it be a viable option to drain the radiator, then hook everything back up and refill with coolant? My idea was that running the engine for a while would do a fair job mixing it all together, and it won't freeze and crack the block while I'm away at school over the winter.
Does this sound reasonable, or am I making a fool of myself with this first post? I'm open to any other suggestions y'all have too; this is actually my first truck, so to a large extent I'm still learning as I go.
Thanks
Does this sound reasonable, or am I making a fool of myself with this first post? I'm open to any other suggestions y'all have too; this is actually my first truck, so to a large extent I'm still learning as I go.
Thanks
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 2,672
Likes: 373
I see no problem with that. In fact, I usually flush with distilled water using an rv pump. Then I drain the radiator via the stopcock and refill with half the theoretical amount of antifreeze. My truck with an FE engine holds 5 gallons of coolant so I add 2.5 gallons of antifreeze. If any more is needed I add distilled water. Run it a while (take it for a spin) after it's at full temperature to make sure the t-stat is open.
Tuned
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 406
Likes: 2
From: Tucson Arizona
If it is not being run then one could just drain the system. This totally alleviates the freezing problem.
I bought a '69 F250 with a 360 this past spring, which had lived its whole life as a California truck. Trouble is, it's at my parents' home in Illinois right now, with a cooling system full of straight water. From a bit of googling and reading on various forums, I've worked out where the drain plug should be on the block, but I've also read that they are notoriously difficult to remove. As a temporary fix, before the weather gets too cold, would it be a viable option to drain the radiator, then hook everything back up and refill with coolant? My idea was that running the engine for a while would do a fair job mixing it all together, and it won't freeze and crack the block while I'm away at school over the winter.
Does this sound reasonable, or am I making a fool of myself with this first post? I'm open to any other suggestions y'all have too; this is actually my first truck, so to a large extent I'm still learning as I go.
Thanks
Does this sound reasonable, or am I making a fool of myself with this first post? I'm open to any other suggestions y'all have too; this is actually my first truck, so to a large extent I'm still learning as I go.
Thanks
Thread Starter
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Trailering
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 18
Likes: 1
Right, of course. Everything I read had said the plugs are impossible to get out, so I'd more or less skipped over that as an option. But probably still worth trying first. Thanks.
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
Likes: 97
From: Waterloo, Iowa
Every engine is different, but I'd want to install antifreeze and let it run for a while (driving it would be better) and thoroughly mix. 2 gallons of coolant and 2 gallons of water. Buy the concentrate. Add 2 gallons of concentrate to the radiator and top off with plain water.
Seems to me there's always about a gallon in the engine that doesn't drain. Maybe that won't crack the block but that ain't the way to bet. There's no good reason to run straight water in a street driven cooling system, the engine needs the anti-corrosion package that a 50/50 solution provides. Not trying to beat up on you, jus' sayin'.
Seems to me there's always about a gallon in the engine that doesn't drain. Maybe that won't crack the block but that ain't the way to bet. There's no good reason to run straight water in a street driven cooling system, the engine needs the anti-corrosion package that a 50/50 solution provides. Not trying to beat up on you, jus' sayin'.
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97ExpGuy
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