drain coolant
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Tuned
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 442
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From: reno nevada
drain coolant
Ok men i need help. I know this has come up before but i cant find post. How do i get all the coolant to drain out of my 02 Powerstroke? I dont have the desire or the guts to play with any block drains. I have the truck sitting with the front down hill to help out. Seems like im only getting about 5 gallons to come out. I did buy the corrrect gold coolant to replace so i wont have any odd mix problems. Thanks Joe
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 14,541
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From: Dallas-Ft. Worth
Joe,
You'll need to pull the block plugs back by the oil filter mount & starter, and you still will be about a gallon or two short of it being completely empty. Best thing to do is to keep cycling distilled water through it until it runs clear. Then drain, and fill with four gallons of concentrated (NOT 50/50!) coolant. Top-off with distilled and you'll be right at 50/50.
You'll need to pull the block plugs back by the oil filter mount & starter, and you still will be about a gallon or two short of it being completely empty. Best thing to do is to keep cycling distilled water through it until it runs clear. Then drain, and fill with four gallons of concentrated (NOT 50/50!) coolant. Top-off with distilled and you'll be right at 50/50.
Snowboard season cometh..
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 5,406
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From: Gulf Coast of Florida
The block plugs aren't that big a deal, really. I drained my block 8 times when I switched over to Rotella ELC (Red Kool Aid). Even if you're putting the same stuff back in, it would still be good to do it at least once.
The ONLY way you'll have a shot at getting all the coolant out is by pulling the drain plugs. Well.... I guess you could blow pressurized air through too... but they are called "drain" plugs for a reason...
The ONLY way you'll have a shot at getting all the coolant out is by pulling the drain plugs. Well.... I guess you could blow pressurized air through too... but they are called "drain" plugs for a reason...
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Parker, CO
The block plugs aren't that big a deal, really. I drained my block 8 times when I switched over to Rotella ELC (Red Kool Aid). Even if you're putting the same stuff back in, it would still be good to do it at least once.
The ONLY way you'll have a shot at getting all the coolant out is by pulling the drain plugs. Well.... I guess you could blow pressurized air through too... but they are called "drain" plugs for a reason...
The ONLY way you'll have a shot at getting all the coolant out is by pulling the drain plugs. Well.... I guess you could blow pressurized air through too... but they are called "drain" plugs for a reason...
Right, I ran distilled water thought it twice to clean out the system, you probably wont get it all out the first time. I don't know how good compressed are is to the system, I would be afraid to do that much. I would run it with distilled water until its clear, then fill it up with the new coolant.
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Tuned
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: reno nevada
distilled water
So you refilled with distilled water and then ran that way to warm up. Then redrained again? Sounds like a good idea
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Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Parker, CO
yup did that twice, it was clear after the second time. The only down side was it cost a lot for that much distilled water, but I it was definitely worth the price.
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Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 442
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From: reno nevada
ok
Ok sounds like a good idea. The distilled water is cheap at walmart close by. And as said above, then fill with mostly antifreeze becasue therw will be about 3 gallons of distilled water still inside? Makes sense. I dont want to get too far off on my mixture of antifreeze.
Hotshot
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 11,286
Likes: 263
From: North of Greenville
Perhaps a tad off-topic, but related all the same.
I just got a thought regarding these wonderful block drain plugs.
Has anyone tried connecting a common run of hard tubing to the plugs with a tee that then goes to a plugged isolation valve? This would make draining much easier and cleaner for sure. I'm thinking that a few compression fittings and small diameter tubing would be just the trick for this. A sketch of this concept is below.
I just got a thought regarding these wonderful block drain plugs.
Has anyone tried connecting a common run of hard tubing to the plugs with a tee that then goes to a plugged isolation valve? This would make draining much easier and cleaner for sure. I'm thinking that a few compression fittings and small diameter tubing would be just the trick for this. A sketch of this concept is below.
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 10,977
Likes: 5
From: Lancaster, Pa.
Perhaps a tad off-topic, but related all the same.
I just got a thought regarding these wonderful block drain plugs.
Has anyone tried connecting a common run of hard tubing to the plugs with a tee that then goes to a plugged isolation valve? This would make draining much easier and cleaner for sure. I'm thinking that a few compression fittings and small diameter tubing would be just the trick for this. A sketch of this concept is below.
I just got a thought regarding these wonderful block drain plugs.
Has anyone tried connecting a common run of hard tubing to the plugs with a tee that then goes to a plugged isolation valve? This would make draining much easier and cleaner for sure. I'm thinking that a few compression fittings and small diameter tubing would be just the trick for this. A sketch of this concept is below.
Then do the ELC with the proper flush and your good for awhile.
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Tuned
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 442
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From: reno nevada
I appreciate everyones help here. There is allways some one on the site who can bail me out of a problem over the years.
I took the advice and flushed mine out twice with the distilled water. Then filled back up with 4 gallons of the zerex antifreeze. Toped off with more distilled. Good advice given above.
Regarding the time of when to change. Yes the book says 100k for the yellow antifreeze but i think it also says there is a 5 year change on that. I was going by 100k myself untill i realized that my truyck is 6 and 1/2 years old allready. Might want to recheck but i think it says 5 year 100k for the gold. Thanks Joe
I took the advice and flushed mine out twice with the distilled water. Then filled back up with 4 gallons of the zerex antifreeze. Toped off with more distilled. Good advice given above.
Regarding the time of when to change. Yes the book says 100k for the yellow antifreeze but i think it also says there is a 5 year change on that. I was going by 100k myself untill i realized that my truyck is 6 and 1/2 years old allready. Might want to recheck but i think it says 5 year 100k for the gold. Thanks Joe
Hotshot
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 11,286
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From: North of Greenville
Chris... it's a recessed square drive... the 1/4" tip on your small 1/4" ratchet works perfectly. You can also use a short extender for the driver side near the oil filter, but you can't use any extender at all above the starter... just not enough room. (If you don't have a 1/4" ratchet, you might be able to get away with using the 3/8" to 1/4" converter with your 3/8" ratchet.)