advice on coolant change please
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Member
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 98
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From: Huntington Beach, CA
advice on coolant change please
i want to do a coolant change and flush on my xpedition. what is this big concern about air pockets and why do only some people have that problem? and what are the torque specs for tightening the block drain plugs? what is the best way to do a change to avoid air pockets? should i follow the haynes manual exactly and then sue the F out of them if i have problems?
thanks for any help
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1999 Expedition XLT 2wd
330 V8
Gibson Swept Side
K&N FPIK gen II
thanks for any help
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1999 Expedition XLT 2wd
330 V8
Gibson Swept Side
K&N FPIK gen II
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,506
Likes: 6
From: Puyallup, WA
When I changed mine, I just opened the drain for the radiator, let it drain. Filled it up with water, let it drain. Filled again, started engine. When top hose got hot (t-stat opened), I let it run for 30 sec and then shut it off. This let the clean water in the rad get replaced with the old from the engine. Drained this. Filled with water, repeated until only clean water came out.(two more times I think). Filled agian, let it run for like 15 minutes more with rad draining and then filling as the resovoir emptied. Oh yeah, turn the heater on full when doing all this.
I then used that flush stuff from Prestone. Let it run for another 15 minutes. Then repeated the above process to remove all the flush stuff.
I also used an old hose end that had the tip cut off and pushed it into the resovoir and down the big hole at the bottom that attaches to the lower rad hose. Kinda makeshift flushing kit. Only did this while engine was running so the cold water wouldn't crack anything....... Actually, I think it only went into the rad, because the water out the drain would increase when I did this. Helped speed that procees along, plus put clean water back in system.
Drained rad again, and filled with two gallons of Prestone. It took it all. Since the spec is really close to four gallons total, this will make a near perfect 50/50 mix. Just started the engine and let it run. Left the cap off the resovoir, so that any air bubbles that may have been in the system just escaped as the water circulated. Kept an eye on it for a couple of days afterward. Never had to add anymore. Checked with that 'tester' gizmo and was just right. Probably took two hours or so for the whole process.
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1997 F150 4x4 XLT, SuperCab, Short Box, 5.4, Royal Blue/Silver, K&N, Gibson SS, LT265/75/16 Wild Country APT's, Hellwig Progressive Springs (LP-25)
I then used that flush stuff from Prestone. Let it run for another 15 minutes. Then repeated the above process to remove all the flush stuff.
I also used an old hose end that had the tip cut off and pushed it into the resovoir and down the big hole at the bottom that attaches to the lower rad hose. Kinda makeshift flushing kit. Only did this while engine was running so the cold water wouldn't crack anything....... Actually, I think it only went into the rad, because the water out the drain would increase when I did this. Helped speed that procees along, plus put clean water back in system.
Drained rad again, and filled with two gallons of Prestone. It took it all. Since the spec is really close to four gallons total, this will make a near perfect 50/50 mix. Just started the engine and let it run. Left the cap off the resovoir, so that any air bubbles that may have been in the system just escaped as the water circulated. Kept an eye on it for a couple of days afterward. Never had to add anymore. Checked with that 'tester' gizmo and was just right. Probably took two hours or so for the whole process.
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1997 F150 4x4 XLT, SuperCab, Short Box, 5.4, Royal Blue/Silver, K&N, Gibson SS, LT265/75/16 Wild Country APT's, Hellwig Progressive Springs (LP-25)