Hey guys, I dont know if I am posting this in the right place, but please bare with me.

I have a 2006 F150 4.2L V6.

I am wanting to flush the Coolant and Power steering fluids...(along with everything else, these are just the 2 that I dont know how to do)

Coolant:

Whats the best way to flush the system?
Haynes book says drain the radiator then remove the thermostat and stick a water hose in the radiator and let the water come up out of the thermostat port...this seems like it would leave water in the block though, and I would have to replace the thermostat gasket.

Some guys told me to get the prestone flush kit, but I dont understand how that gets all the coolant out of the block, or even how to use it...

I have also heard that you should drain the radiator, then undo the drain plug on the side of the block, and then put a water hose through it...but I havent seen a drain plug on this motor, and the haynes manual does not mention it.

Soooo....ideas, thoughts. Ive never flushed the coolant before on this truck, but I am not an idiot when it comes to working on vehicles, so any advice is must appreciated...

Power steering fluid.

Please help, a few guys told me to disconnect the hose after the heat sink for the PS fluid and just let it drain....is this really the best way?


Thank you all very much.

-Dennis

 

bump.

Anything?

 

The flush kits for the coolant that I've seen are nothing more than an inline fitting for a coolant line such as a heater hose that you can attach a garden hose to and run low pressure water through the whole system (with heater turned all the way on hot) and the lower radiator hose disconnected to empty it out. Pretty straight forward.

 

Thats what ive seen too, but couldnt you accomplish the same thing by sticking the hose in the top of the radiator and letting it run through?

Im still hazy on how to get all the fluid out of the block?


Does anyone have any thoughts for flushing the Power Steering fluid?

Thanks

-Dennis

 

i wouldnt pull any hoses off the power steering system, if you run pumps dry it can make them make noise and such. all i ever do is use a turkey baster and suck the fluid out of the resovoir, then put new fluid in it, start it, crank the wheels back and forth, then repeat. ps fluid is cheap so use a couple quarts.

 

Ok awesome man, thank you...that seems like an easier route to take.

 

Follow the instructions that come with the flushing tee kit. You do NOT drain the water out of the block, which is why you use full strength coolant and not 50/50 premix.

http://www.prestone.com/products/pri...ll+Kit&regTM=1

 

That Prestone kit is the best solution.

Or do what I do, and just dump the coolant and refill it. Run the truck and keep an eye on it.

Mind you, it might take a couple days to get it just right and all the air out of the system. Just keep a bottle of the coolant in your truck.

 

Maybe I'm getting **** in my old age, but I only put distilled water in my cooling system. Tap water usually has some degree of hardness that will plate out on the surfaces in the cooling system.

Long time ago, the calcium deposits plugged a heater core and it wasn't fun replacing it.

 

This ^^^ was my only worry about using the prestone kit? Maybe im over-think the hell outta this, probably am, but IF you leave the water in the block from flushing the system, how do you A know that you will achieve between a 50 & 70% mix when you fill up with non-diluted anti-freeze, and B doesnt tap water contribute to failure of the cooling system?

I dont mean to be annoying guys, I just want to make sure that what I do is the right thing.

Thank you all for your patience and comments.

-Dennis