Excuse me if this was asked before but how important is it to use distilled water when flushing the engine and rad? I bought the antifreeze in the jugs that is premixed, but can I use a garden hose to flush? Thanks in advance.

 

I did not use tap water to flush.

According to my owner's manual, my cooling system capacity is 23.1 quarts. I did not want to crawl under to remove the engine block plug. When I drained the radiator, only 10 quarts drained. So, I bought 10 2.5 gallon bottles of distilled water ($2.19 each).
I drained, filled with distilled, ran engine to operating temp, let cool and repeated for all 10 containers. It took several days, but by the last container, the drained liquid was pretty clear. I then drained again and added straight antifreeze. I used Peak. It is slightly less than 50% concentration, but it's good for me.

 

take the thermostat out, reassemble.. disconnect the upper hose from the radiator...get the garden hose out...stick in radiator and letter rip...do not start the engine while flushing...zap!

 

ford dealerships and just about every car dealership uses a water hose.... no point in using distilled water to expensive and the coolant will prevent electrolisis

 

Dealers are retarded, so of course they could care less. I prefer FrankLee's method. I use less to flush and do it all in one procedure.

 

I get the distilled water for around a buck a gallon and remove the thermostat.

With the thermastat out the water flows very freely and you dont have to warm it up to get that strong flow.

 

Dealers are retarded, so of course they could care less. I prefer FrankLee's method. I use less to flush and do it all in one procedure


where does this all come from?..i'm amazzzzzed at what it takes to flush a cooling system???no way would i take dayzzzzzzsssss to do such a simple job....ever been to the dragstrip? guys flush the cooling system EVERY ROUND in certain cars...well...you take your time doing that and i'll get on with other things...zap!

 

Tap water is fine, but do worry about air bubbles though.

 

I made no mention of required time. I prefer and recommend that the final fill only includes distilled water and antifreeze, just like the owner's manual calls for. Yes, I've been to the dragstrip many times since the 1960s. I didn't see anyone ask for a recommendation for "EVERY ROUND" coolant changes on a track car. My understanding is that this board is set up for members to take what they choose from various opinions.

This post by zapster shows his realm of experience with the aluminum components of late model F-150 cooling systems.

It's from his advice on the replacement of a Lightning head. Note: Not only does he NOT own a Lightning, he doesn't own ANY model of F-150. His post adds ZERO relevant information to the member. The only rational explanation for his post is that he's post padding and desperate for attention, as usual:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...light=aluminum

 

I use a method simialr to Franks, but instead of flush with water only, I use premixed coolant. Yes its expensive, but over a two week period and flushing out 2-3 times the coolant capacity, I feel more comfortable knowing there is clean, correctly mixed coolant in there.

Another upside is that it seems like the coolant helps drain more solids out of the system than just regular distilled water. Thats peurely speculative, but works for me.

 

I open the drain and pull the heater hose. Start the truck and let all the coolantrt flow out till it is clear. The heater hose bypasses the thermostat. I keep the overflow resevoir topped up with tap water. When it is all clear I turn off the engine and walk away till it stops dripping. I use a 40/60 mix of distilled water and antifreeze to refill. The reason for the strong mix is the fact that all the water doesn't drip out of the engine so a 50/50 mix would most likely yield a less than ideal ratio. With all my accessories turned on there is a .390v current in the coolant. That is enough to casue electrolysis. I am working on a cure. I would like to see less than .300v.

JMC

 

JMC,

Have you tried adding more ground straps from your battery to the engine block and frame? I did this on an older Chevy, and measured 0.5 volts before and almost no current after. I directly grounded the starter as well, partly due to corrosion and to help starting power. I think this is where you see the most results.

I haven't tried grounding my Ford yet, primarily because I want to change the battery connections, and have some other eletrical projects to do.

 

Thanks for the tip but yes I have an extra ground to the engine block. I am in the process of checking all the grounds for corrosion. When I swapped in the 5.4 I checked all the engine compartment grounds and they were ok.

JMC

 

I work in a high tech R&D facility that has a very expensive and elaborate Deionized water system for converting tap water to DI.

Does anyone know if DI water mixed 50/50 with Prestone is ok? DI water can be corrosive by itself but I think the Prestone would "re-ionize" the water and prevent electrolosis.

If this is as good or better than distilled I can have all I want for free. If it matters the resistivity is about 18 M-ohm.

Thanks

 

First of all, ZAP,I think you are a very rude individual! Ive come to this conclusion by reading several of your replies on this board.Anyway.........I use tap water to flush the first time,then use distilled water to flush the tap water.Then I add a 50/50 mixture of distilled water/antifreeze.BTW,I get my distilled water from Wal-Mart, 58 cents a gallon!