Hey Guys,

So tomorrow I am getting ready to do my first coolant change. As far as I can tell the coolant in the truck has about 30,000 miles on it (I bought the old girl used in February, as most of you know)

Anyway I went and bought Motorcraft green and my anti-corrosion additive.

Anything I really need to know before diving in?

Now I know I need to flush to get all of the old coolant out, how many gallons of water do I need to flush through the system? How can I be sure I get all of the coolant out of the system? as I know i'll have a gallon or two hiding from me once I drain the radiator.

Also, whats the best way to dispose of all of the old fluid once I drain it all out?

Any nuggest will be helpful here, since this is my first time and all

 

Nothing special. Just a 50-50 mix, and at least a pint of SCA. Do one good trip, about 30 miles or so, before checking the SCA level. Check your loacl dump or auto parts store for disposal. Some places have recyling drums for it.

 

Here is how i did it on my neighbor's truck i worked on and also flushed the cooling system. Go to Walmart or where ever and get distilled water, 12 gallons of it or so, a cartfull. Look at the onlookers oddly as they look oddly upon you as you push a cart full of water to the express lane (might as well get 15 if that's the limit). Its like 67 cents a gallon so its not "expensive" for water. I hope you got 4 gallons of 100% antifreeze, right?

Drain the radiator, and if you don't want mess, dont bother with the block drain plugs. Refill the radiator with water, and then start up the engine. You can let it sit and idle, but i dont think that the thermostat will open just like that. Go drive it around and get it up to temp. Running it on less than 50% concentration won't hurt it. You will find that draining and refilling the radiator will only drain about 4 gallons, so alas the rest of the system holds the other 4 gallons. Turn the heater on also to get coolant circulated through the heater core and back to the radiator. Keep doing this 4 gallons at a time, it will usually take 4 flushes to get the water looking clear. Perfectly clear water is ideal. Once you drain the last time coming out clear, then add the 4 gallons of antifreeze to the degas bottle. Remember you have 4 gallons of pure water in the system now, so this is how you "mix" it. You may have to add some water at the end to get it up to spec. Put a gallon of water in the backseat, and go for a drive with the heater on, to get the antifreeze acquainted with the water in it's new surroundings. You may have to top off the tank at the end with water, but don't add any more coolant.

Just think, now's a great time to install a coolant filter with the new coolant.

 

Heres a good procedure Smokin

Wish you hadnt gotten the coolant yet the Red ELC doesnt require service for 300,000 miles.

 

Thanks guys, all great info.

My dad decided to go hunting on Sunday and he's got all of my tools, all I had was my basic box I run around with in my truck. He's got my oil filter wrench, my buckets, everything (I was planning an oil change at the same time). It'll have to wait until next weekend.

My brother suggested running some flush fluid on Thursday or so, to be ready for the change sometime this weekend.

I'll let you know if I run into any problems or anything like that.

Thanks again!

 

I think they mentioned that in certain years you can switchover to the yellow coolant and forget about the additive every now and then.

 

Excellent advise Kris. I did my flush this weekend. Very easy (albeit time consuming) process.

I flushed 12 gallons if distilled water through the system, letting the truck warm up to operating temperature after draining and filling with four clean gallons.

After flushing the system three times, I ended up with four clean gallons of water in my system and added my 4 gallons of motorcraft green. We tested the coolant and it came out perfect, and I am good to -40 below.

Now to figure out what to do with all of that used coolant. None of the parts stores around here want to recycle it.

 

Where is a good place to pick up the motorcraft coolant and SCA? Is the red ELC motorcraft, or will any brand work? With the red do you use the same amount of SCA?

 

The Red ELC is Rotella/Final Charge(Wally World Packaging) and requires no additives until 300,000 miles. At 300,000 You add 1 treatment that is good for another 300,000 or until 600,000 total and then do a flush.

 

Well that seems MUCH easier than adding additives all the time..what are the draw-backs? (dont tell me its $300 a bottle lol!)

 

It is more expensive, probably going to cost $70-$80 to fill your system. Other than that, no drawbacks.

I think the lable service interval is 3 years or 300,000 miles, no maintainence, then can be recharged for another 3 years or 300,000.

 

I have looked at the Final Charge stuff at Wall World, and the bottle said it's a 50/50? If that is the case how do you get the right amount of coolant in the truck if during the flush you still have about 4 gallons of water in the truck.

 

Actually Global Final Charge at Wal-Mart is Old World Industries (makers of Peak Coolant line) label, not Wal-Mart's. I believe Old World Industries is the actual manufacturers of Rotella ELC as well. Same stuff, different bottle is what I have read.

 

Awesome-its supposed to be warm here this week-sounds like I have a project!

 

Therein lies the problem with pre-diluted coolant. If you go to a truckstop with a service center or truck dealership (international, pete, kenworth, cat, etc) you can get the undiluted diesel ELC. Cat EC-1 specification is what you want to look for.