These are the "cold" fill range marks and the fluid should only be between these marks when the coolant is cold (the engine has not been driven for several hours). When the engine is hot, the coolant will expand and rise above these fill marks.

 

Start and run the engine until it reaches operating temperature.
Turn the heater on (hottest temperature) to allow flow into heater block. Continue to add the antifreeze mixture to the degas bottle fill level mark as needed.

 

Finally, shut off the engine and replace the cap on the degas bottle. You should check the degas bottle level (when the coolant is cold) and add the antifreeze mixture until water till it is between the fill marks.

Check the coolant level again after a day or so of driving to insure it is still at the proper level and that none is leaking out of the coolant system.

Be sure to store that 5 gallon bucket of used antifreeze in a safe place until you can take it to a collection center and please don't pollute by dumping it out on the ground. You and I will just be drinking it in our tap water some day down the line.

Congrats, your finished.

 

SUMMARY:

A summary of the steps with out pictures will be placed here.

 

Comments, Suggestions, Spelling, procedure errors.

This is the final thread entry for this howto. Please add any comments and suggestions about any mispelled words or procedure errors and I will modify this thread accordingly.

 

I touched up this thread and am ready for any comments, Fire away!

 

Excellent writeup! Only a single comment, and its not really a negative, just a different way of doing it. Rather than adding straight antifreeze and then straight distilled water, I like to premix several gallons of a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water, and use that to refill the cooling system.

 

I was thinking the same thing. You at least need to put a 50/50 mix of coolant v/s water.

 

post *****... :-p j/k nice write up!!

 

Very well done, i think i will change mine this week its only been 170,000+ miles. Maybe Faster can come up with something as good...

 

Remove the inlet heater hose end, that is next to the first fuel injector on top of the right head. Get a (6 ft.+-)section of scrap heater hose (garden hose, or from a parts store ) connect it to where you just removed that black hose (heater hose inlet connector) aim it in a safe direction----start the engine and antifreeze will pour out of this newly installed hose. Keep the radiator full with clean water until you are sure all antifreeze has been evacuated. Time can be saved by draining the radiator first and leaving the radiator drain open while keeping radiator full and evacuating. After nothing but clean water pours out of this hose, drain radiator and add antifreez. SAFETY NOTE__ antifreeze will come out of the newly installed hose with some force, make sure engine is cold

 

Very nice writeup! I would only add that there is no reason to use more than 25% coolant in your mix, but to each his own.

 

If your truck runs hot and somebody opens the coolant resevoir, or a hose blows off you will have a violent explosion. If you use a 50/50 blend, it won't boil when the pressure is let off, so it's a lot more safe. And it's less corrosive than 25%.

 

That's a crock. You think that a coolant/water mix at 265 degrees will do less harm to a person than a mix at 230 degrees? As far as boiling is concerned, once the mix hits air, they're both equally dangerous. Here's a simple fact: it will run hotter with more coolant. A mix w/ 25% coolant will provide plenty of resistance to corrosion as well.

 

No they're not equally dangerous. A 30% blend at 230 degrees will boil when exposed to standard pressure. If you remember your Physics and Chemistry, when water goes from the gassous state to the liquid state (eg. touching your skin) it releases a VERY large ammount of energy. This energy release is the reason behind the term "steam burns"

Put simply... Water at 230 degrees will burn you, but water vapor at 230 degrees will cause extreme burns, due to the release of heat of vaporization.
That's why, if you have a 50/50 blend that boils at 270 degrees, and your water temp is 230 degrees, it won't explode when you take the radiator cap off.

I'll try to find a chart that will illustrate what I have to say.

As for it running hot.... Who do you know with a 97 and up F-series truck, has overheating problems???

*edit* Found it: