Hey guys Im looking to tap in to some forum wisdom on cooling system bleeding. Like the title says I have a 2011 F150 with the coyote 5.0 and it has.........ready for this ........230k miles . It has been a soldier of a truck and I have done 2 steering racks, replaced the lead frame on the valve body and done the software update. I thought I was done , but nope. I noticed a small coolant leak coming from the thermostat housing. I went ahead and replaced all the coolant hoses including the wish bone looking one that connects to the manifold and the upper radiator hose along the the $8 dollar O ring for the thermostat and the thermostat itself. So I see no leaks and my belts are dry to reassure that. However I feel like somehow I got air trapped in the system. So my initial "bleed" was simply filling the cooling system to the cold amount fill on the reservoir and on turning the heater to max for around 15 min at let it idle ... rev up the engine to around 3k and let idle again . I was able to see the top hose that connects to the reservoir have a steady stream of coolant and let the engine run for a while to make sure all the air was out. This morning driving to work with 65f ambient temperature the cooling fan started going full blast. Once I got to work I turned the heater all the way up and popped the cap off slowly and heard a massive hiss . At this point im going to try my bleeding method again of simply turning the heater on and removing the coolant cap at let it idle, my next step is doing a coolant pressure test to make sure there isn't any leaks in case a small leak is letting air in the system and performing a vacuum refill. Short of that Im out of ideas. Does anyone in here know the factory bleed procedure? Or have a successful bleed method ? Thanks in advance

 

Hey, I found this on another f150 forum. Here. They claim it's an excerpt from the factory service manual. The other recommendations was to let the dealership do the coolant flush as the guy claimed they were only charging $110. Now I'm not going to get into an argument on whether $110 is a fair price, but hey, if you make more money at your job per hour than it takes you to do the service yourself and pay for the materials, it's worth a shot. They might be able to check for any other abnormalities as well. They'll be able to vacuum it out effectively as well unless you have that sort of mechanic equipment at home already.

Hopefully this helps! If not, I'm interested in what others have to say for future reference.

 

While I do a majority of service on my vehicles, coolant flushes aren't one of them... they are messy, and coolant isn't easy to pawn off as used motor oil is in my area.

In case anyone is wondering why used motor oil is a hot commodity in my area, it's because a LOT of the local shops run used oil burners to heat their shop to save money during the winter.

I've been considering getting one for my shop for a couple years now.

In fact, a local shop gave me a 55 gallon drum for my used "burnable" oils like hydraulic fluid and motor oil. All I need to do is call them up, and they take it and replace it with an empty... all they ask is to make sure I don't contaminate it with water or coolants.

 

Thanks for the heads up guys.... last night when driving home I could hear the cooling fans going full blast so I turned the heater all the way up and within 5 min they whine down Once I got home I turned the heater all the way up again and slowly popped the coolant cap off... and can hear a hiss and slowly unscrewed the cap until the hiss was gone . This morning the reservoir was below the fill level. No leaks that I can see the drive belt and the area around where the leak was bone dry. I topped off the coolant this morning took around half a quart. No loud fan operation like yesterday at 60f ambient like before driving in the morning. The true test is driving home uphill in the heat. I will report back and let you guys know the results.

 

Glad it's working out for you.

Looking forward to hearing if it's going to stay fixed!

 

Hello guys Im reporting back. . Friday afternoon I pick up my mom and sis and wait around 35 min at the chik fil a drive through line with no drama in 90 degree weather . Got home shut the truck off for a while and went back outside after 10 minutes and no loud fan operation. Saturday morning checked coolant level at cold fill and it was within range. Drove around 70 miles on sunday on high altitude and 85degree weather no drama.. . I think its good, glad this issue is over with . Time to get some wheels and tires and go another 200k . Thanks

 

Sometimes it does take some time to get all the air burped out.