Hey guys,
I have a 2000 F150 4.2 5-speed. Every night when I turn on the headlights the right headlight does not come on. One quick smack makes it come on and it doesn't go out until the next night. I checked the connections and they are tight. Anyone have a similar problem? I haven't pulled the headlight out yet because I'm afraid of breaking one of those studs off. Any trick into getting these out? I can tell the levers you pull up have never been moved. ALSO, I'm taking on the task of doing my first coolant flush on one of these trucks. Anything I need to look out for or any tricks? It still has the original coolant in it at 140,000 miles.
Thanks,
Matt

 

Just pull the tabs all the way up. The headlight will come out easy once you lift the tabs. I've had mine out many times.

 

i would take it to a shop to get the coolant flushed that way you know all of the old fluid is out. but thats just me

 

Definitely take it to a shop. They pressure flush it and it gets all the built up gunk out as well.

 

It is easy to get it all out. Replace the hoses and T stat at the same time this will make it even easier. Now open the petcock on the radiator, its on the P. side IIRC and let the old stuff drain out. Then pull both hoses and the T stat, the lower hose branches into 3 total and can be a PITA to get them all back on since they are so close. Anyway with all the hoses off and the T stat out go get your garden hose and stick it in the T stat opening, turn it on and let it run. This will flush everything but the heater core. Once it runs clear turn off the hose and let the engine drain. Now put the new hoses on and the T stat. Now if you really want it clean fill it up completely with water and go take a drive with the heater on, this will dilute and flush the heater core to the best it can. Come back and drain the engine again. Now assume the engine has a gallon or so of water in it and start from there mixing 50/50.

I've successfully switched from orange to the gold "ok for any engine" 50/50 mix stuff doing this and not had a problem, as well as flushed the system 2 other times this way when it still had orange. Note yours should have the green, do not mix colors. If you are going to totally flush I like this gold stuff that is suppose to be safe for anything, plus it is already 50/50 mixed.

Personally I wouldn't want to get my engine "pressure flushed" but that is just me, way to many things to go wrong with high miles IMO.

 

Sounds like a good plan to me. I was wondering what color to use. The owners manual says to only use green. The yellow should be the same right since it mixes with everything??? I can't really find any green around here...

 

with the headlights just pull up on those levers or whatever and they will come right up, i changed the headlamps in my truck, and it was the same truck you have, they might take some convincing if there is any rust on them, mine did, and i live in so-cal wheres theres no snow, and with the coolant, its pretty easy to take it to a shop and generally not to expensive, then you can also be certain its done right (not saying you cant do it right, just saying its easy to do wrong and not know it) its also easier to deal with the spent fluid when you take it to a shop instead of having to find stuff to put all the fluid into, but if you feel confident, do it! its always great to be able to do stuff yourself

 

I did the coolant change today. All went pretty smoothly. I drained the old stuff (was a slight red color with all the dirt and stuff in it). Next I removed both hoses. Then I took out the themostat(two 8mm bolts). I figured out real quick that trying to get the old gasket off is way harder that you would think. I just did the best I could. I took the garden hose and run it throught the thermostat housing and flushed what I could out until it ran clear. Next I flushed the radiator. I then put some sealent on the gasket and reinstalled a new thermostat (this is a pain, it's going to take some patience!). Then I reinstalled the new hoses (clips take a little playing with if you don't have the right tool). Next I filled up the degas bottle with new 50/50 antifreeze. I asked about the color earlier but the Prestone "Any make, any model, any color antifreeze" is actually green, not yellow like on the bottle. I then started it up and let it run. Took longer to bleed the air than I thought (like 10 minutes) and one spike of the guage. All was good after this. My truck runs cooler and the heater works better now. All in all, not too bad of a job! Any questions, just ask. Thanks for all of your help!
-Matt

 

hey sweet man, im glad you didnt have any problems!

 

Good to hear, I forgot about this thread earlier. I haven't had a problem with that any makes stuff, I thought mine was yellow but couldn't remember for sure.