Sorry to dredge up a likely common topic, but I'm having no luck finding the right info on how to do a coolant flush.

Use the Preston flush kit? If so which line does the T go on?

Flush with tap water? If so, how do I get it all back out? Should I?

Drain the block? Or just use the flush kit?

Any links to a step by step would be appreciated.

 

As performed today.. well.. adjusted a bit as I will do it next time..

For V10 Exc..

Tools
-----
3/8 torque wrench
10 mm socket (ah.. might have been 11 mm)
Adjustable wrench / pliers to loosen drain plug
4 or 5 gal bucket (at least 4)
1 gal empty milk jug

Prep
----
Look up coolant capacity
My V10 was 28.5 Qt (the aux rear heater adds 1.5 - I'm not sure I have that or not, thinking maybe I do, but figure that's not going to effect the calculations much)

Shopping List
-------------
18 gal of distilled water
4 gal of Prestone - not premix (you need 0.5 * your capacity to get 50/50 mix) - I figured about 14 Qts

Procedure (some parts found elsewhere here)
-------------------------------------------
Remove 2 bolts leading away from top radiator hose to block - remove thermostat - lightly bolt it back down. Very simple process.

Loosen radiator drain plug - drain into bucket - 3.5 gals comes out almost exactly. This takes awhile - 10 to 15 minutes. I stopped when the stream became drips.
Tighten up the drain plug.
Fill the radiator with 3.5 gals of distilled (or same amount that comes out, but on my Ex is was exactly 3.5 gals)
Start the engine.
Turn on all heaters - don't forget the rear ones ;-)
Run at 2000 rpm for 3 minutes.
While idling, poor the coolant from bucket into the empty distilled water jugs. You'll need one extra jug (milk jug) to get things going since it takes 3.5 gals of distilled.
When your bucket is empty, turn off engine, and repeat to the drain step above.
Do this 5 times. The last 2 times, I just dumped the heavily diluted coolant onto the ground. It's 90% water at that point.

Drain the 5th flush.
Put the thermostat back in, torque to 18 Ft-lbs. Suggestion posted elsewhere was to replace the thermostat. Sounds like a great idea.
Fill with 100% coolant at 1/2 the capacity you looked up. I used 14 Qt, which is about 1/2 of my 28.5 capacity. I put in a tad over 3.5 gals.
Run the engine until it's at it's usually full temp.
Let it cool off.
Fill with distilled water only to the MAX line. ( I added 1/2 gal)

Discard the 14 gals of coolant properly. 3.5 gals is 1:2 mix, 3.5 gals is 1:4, 3.5 gals is 1:8 and 3.5 gals is 1:16 ( I dumped the 1:32 and 1:64 (aka flushes 4 and 5) on the ground.)

There are probably other ways to do this; some arguably better, but this is very simple, costs about $60 ($44 for antifreeze, 75 cents/gal for distilled), runs only distilled through the system, and removes 98% of the coolant. I guess I'm not backflushing and pushing out debris, but I'm assuming if I do this every 40K or so, it's going to be way more than adequate. The Prestone jug says 5 years or 150K miles. I will probaby go 5 years to get 40K.

Hope this helps any others out there. I found various procedures, but liked one very similar to this. I just added the details for what my V10 Ex needed. It's a thing of beauty since it drains almost exactly 1/2 the coolant, thus making the 50:50 mix extremely simple.

The worst part of the procedure is waiting for the coolant to drain. Toss some ***** with kids, go for a short walk, enjoy a beverage. I just would not recommend a beverage during each of the 6 drains, though the math works out pretty good, just don't forget to put the thermostat back on, or at least bolt the housing back on.

 

Nice write up.
rep pts to ya

 

Check the min/max cold lines for a week or so.

I added another quart of antifreeze 2 days later. That should about do it.

 

I have been thinking about doing a flush/fill myself. This was very helpful info,

Matt

 

Just what I was looking for.