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I am at the point where I'm looking at flushing and replacing the coolant in my early (8/98) 7.3, 243.5K miles.
As I understand it, I want to be using one of the coolants listed in post #7 within this thread: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ml#post8935201
Flush with distilled water. How many gallons of distilled water typically gets used for this? My tap water has enough sediment, minerals and other stuff it could be it's own food group.
Also, I like the idea of using a kid pool to catch the flushed water and coolant. What I want to know is where to dispose of the large amounts of flush? I have 5 cats on my property now and can't have them getting into any bit of the flush water. Where does one dispose of the raw, dead coolant removed at the initial cracking or the coolant system?
I am at the point where I'm looking at flushing and replacing the coolant in my early (8/98) 7.3, 243.5K miles.
I did this April 2021 on my 6/98 build. Attached are 2 photos I took of the process. In one, you can see I drained it 5x, with the amount of residual coolant dropping off quite a bit. In the second, you can see the level of "grit" that the first 3 drains brought with it. Interesting to note that the first drain was not only quite clear, but devoid of any grit. Only after I filled it, added detergent, and drove it 50 miles or so, did the grit start showing up.
According to my notes, I used 5 gallons per fill/drain. I filled 4 times, with the first one using tap water (and some dish soap). So that would be 15 gal of distilled used for fill/drain, plus what I used to fill it once I was done.
The coolant drained had about 25k/5.5 yrs on it. I went through this exercise because I was replacing the oil cooler, so it had to come out anyway. On the previous coolant change (the first since I purchased the truck), all I did was fill/drain 2x with distilled, but did not open the block plugs (too scared at the time). Long and short, the coolant looked pretty darn good.
I don't like the idea of using my tap water either. Very cloudy. The looks you get checking out with a cart full of 20-30 gallons of distilled water can make you question your life choices.
Firestone took my used coolant. I had to spread it around to a couple locations as some had a 4 or 5 gallon max.
Interesting site, thank you.
Looks like the closest place to me that'll take antifreeze is in Garret County, Maryland, and they only cater to Garret County Residents.
I'll have to look elsewhere, perhaps more local. I want to properly dispose on all the flush water as well, not pour it into a hole in the ground.
Could you elaborate? I don't want to put the wrong stuff in the engine.
Post #7 in the thread I linked above indicates ELC for my 8/98 early 99...
This is the first paragraph in post #7 above from above link.
I would recommend a silicate-free, maintenance-free, Heavy Duty ELC. Heavy Duty Extended Life Coolants (HD ELC's - usually "Red") require no such SCA. These are the types of coolants International recommends for all 2/2/99-up engines.
2/2/99 above. Which is a late99+. They early 99s used a different sealent in the injector cups and elc coolant doesn't react correctly with it and causes problems with them. They changed the sealent on the l99+ motors to be compatible with it.
Could you elaborate? I don't want to put the wrong stuff in the engine.
Post #7 in the thread I linked above indicates ELC for my 8/98 early 99...
Use the green stuff, the others will erode the injector cup sealants. Just get some SCA additive or buy the premixed with additives. I did the former but it might not be much of a cost saving.
This is the first paragraph in post #7 above from above link.
2/2/99 above. Which is a late99+. They early 99s used a different sealent in the injector cups and elc coolant doesn't react correctly with it and causes problems with them. They changed the sealent on the l99+ motors to be compatible with it.
I see now, thank you. I interpreted it wrong, thinking early in the year of 1999 and momentarily lost track of my early 1999 model year.
I use Peak brand Fleet Charge ‘SCA precharged’ in the E99’s.
You still have to monitor/add SCA as required through the service life of this coolant.
If the cooling system is adequately flushed and maintained, there is no reason for a coolant filter. The block drains are critical for proper flush/drain.
I did this April 2021 on my 6/98 build. Attached are 2 photos I took of the process. In one, you can see I drained it 5x, with the amount of residual coolant dropping off quite a bit. In the second, you can see the level of "grit" that the first 3 drains brought with it. Interesting to note that the first drain was not only quite clear, but devoid of any grit. Only after I filled it, added detergent, and drove it 50 miles or so, did the grit start showing up.
Having trouble interpreting what you reported.
On the one hand, you said that you drained it 5 times, with amount of residual coolant dropping off quite a bit (which can be interpreted as a weaker and weaker ratio of coolant to water with each drain, resulting in the collected sample becoming clearer and clearer).
On the other hand, you said that your initial drain was not only quite clear, it was also devoid of any grit. The grit extracted increased only after the driving it with detergent solution.
So I guess the question is, did the drained fluid get redder and redder with each flush, as indicated by the arrangement of gallon bottles from left to right in your photo, such that the initial drain was on the left (clear), and the final drain was on the right (reddish)?
I would think that the drained fluid might become clear and clearer with each flush, hence the confusion.
I can see where the ambiguity comes in. First, the order of drains in the photo is right to left. The first - being the darkest - was also the clearest. I am guessing once the detergent was added that it started loosening things up and therefore the cloudy look.
On the grit, it was actually drains 2,3,4 that showed residue. Again, likely due to the detergent that was added between the first and second drain.
