I know the coolant flush procedure...but I am used to having a radiator cap to poor fluids back into. Either this truck does not have a radiator cap, or it is buried under that plastic cover over the radiator. Basically all I'm asking is do I need to find the radiator cap? Or do I have to slowly add fluid through the expansion tank?

 

One of the most frustrating cooling changes I ever did. I have a 4.6, there is no block drain plug on the right side, only one on the left. The engine holds almost 3 quarts of coolant when the radiator and block plug are open. Kept rinsing and rinsing. It helped to use the discharge on a wet vac to blow the coolant out, by blowing thru the reservoir and heater hose. Make sure you plug the one you are not blowing thru to keep anti-freeze off the paint. I'd do the final rinse with distilled or RO water. Drain and measure full strenght coolant, at half the system capacity to the pressurized reservoir. Start engine and top off with distilled or RO water.

 

Thanks for the info. Anyone want to add anything else? Or was that it?

 

could you say where that plug is or what it looks like. I'm banging my had against the wall on this one too. I have a Triton 5.4 2001 in an expedition.

 

On my 4.6L you crawl under the truck from behind the left front wheel. The plug is right next to the frost plug, it's six sided and brass colored, and is in fact soft steel. You can see the treads behind the hex, and they have brunt orange colored pipe dope on them (Gasolia Dope?). Thats how you can tell it from a bolt. On the 4.6L there is a plug right behind the altenator, the plug below looks the same.

 

I have a 97 f-150 4.2L and their is no raditor cap on the raditor itself, but you use the overflow tank as your access when filling up the raditor with coolent, and you fill it up to the min line on the tank.

 

Left front wheel meaning the drivers side?

 

Yes, the extension on my rachet handle was up against the suspension. I believe the 4.6 and 5.4 are the same, just one is bigger. Its really easy to get the coolant back in the system and filled. Just hard to get it all out.

 

my extension was up against the Lower Control arm, there's a place were it has a sharp curve on it as it gets bigger. The extension was against that place and pointed straight up and slightly forward and center. The plug was17mm or 11/16" I used a 15" 1/2" extension and a 6 point deep well socket. That gave me just enough room to swing the rachet handle around, and clear everything.

 

thats a big 10-4 on trying to get it all out! I think I found what your talking about. But what I'm thinking is the drain plug is the type of hex that I have to use a allen wrench on? I can see the threads like you were saying though. I'm currently improvising on a tool situation. Don't have enough leverage with my allen wrench.

 

Mine took a socket, it was really tight with the Gasolia dope so be careful you don't strip it.

 

I flushed the hell out the system. All I'm concerned about at all is that whatever water I don't get out is tap water and has calcium in it. I'm about to just go up to the store and buy some distilled water and flush the systen once or twice with that and forget about this dam drain plug. I don't think it will bew that big of a deal if a have a pint of hard water left in the system that hold 27 qaurts. But then again, what if if does clog something up.

 

I doubt it will clog anything, the reason you use distilled or RO is to get the maximum life out of the coolant. Do you have a plug behind the Alt? If so it is most likely the same as the plug below.