Well im also going to change the coolant tomorrow. Where are the drain plugs for this? If im not wrong, i think theres 2, one by disconnecting the lower hose from the motor and one drain plug from the block. Can someone give me some insight/tips for doing this?
Also do i fill the raidiator in the resovior on the right front side of the engine compartment? Approx how much does it hold?

Also whats the best fluid to use? Should i use distilled water? How about the new pre/mixed fluid they make (I dont remember who)
Thanks

 

Go to an autoparts store and buy a Prestone coolant flush kit for about $4. All it is is a "T" that you splice into your heater hose and then hook a garden hose to. Drain your antifreeze responsibily and with the radiator cap off turn on the water, once full start the truck and wait for a few minutes. When your done let all the water drain and fill with antifreeze. Pretty easy and cheap. Don,t need to remove any engine plugs. As for the fill point, its the driver side front corner on the 5.4L. I do not believe they require you to use distilled water, I think antifeezes of today take care of the "hardness" I couldn't recommend any particular brand of antifreeze, but do not use the orange "Dexcool" stuff. As for the pre-mixed stuff it is just pre-diluted antifreeze. Save money and dilute it yourself. If your real concerned, buy a coolant tester for $4 that way you will know exactly what level of ptrotection you got....

 

thanks for the info i plan on doing the cleaning treatment also but im wondering where the drain is. Im not sure if i just need to unhook the lower hose from the motor and let it all drain out, and/or if there a plug in the block somewhere that lets all the coolant out of the block.

 

on the bottom of your radiator there is a drain **** i usually put a 3/8 hose on the fitting and set it in a bucket to prevent spills. then put a hose in the fill hole with the drain still open turn on the engine and turn the heater on full blast and run it until there is clear water coming out of the drain then turn off the engine and hose and let the water drain out. close the drain and put in a gallon of straight coolant and then some 50/50 until it is at the hot full line then and this is the important part turn the engine and heater back on and see how much it sucks down but make sure the heater is blowing warm because you can vapor lock the cooling system and that can OVERHEAT AND DESTROY YOUR ENGINE and doing it with the kit can cause it to vapor lock also so just be careful

 

Thanks very much for the info im going right now to get the coolant and distilled water, but ill probley end up doing it tomorrow(its supposed to be 55 adn sunny tomorrow )
Again thanks for the info-i can always count on F-150!

 

This is only what I do (twice now and no problems). The others are fine too.

I've tried to install that 'flush kit'. Can't get any access to a heater hose, at least on my rig. I can 'see' it, but forget about reaching it easily.

Drain valve on rad is on pass side at the bottom. No need to remove any hoses (I guess you could, but what a mess and the way I flush, it's not pratical).

Just get off the shelf 100% Prestone. It has the proper Ford spec. You only need 2 gallons of 100% AF. I've never used distilled water, but I guess you could..... You would have to drain the block, and there is a block drain on the drivers side, but I would not mess with it. The pass side has one too, but you can't get to it, so what's the point anyway?

Take cap off res. Drain rad. Fill rad with plain water. Start engine, turn heat to full hot (don't need to worry about fan speed, just that the heat dial is all the way in the 'red'). Keep rad drain valve open and let water trickle in the top to maintain level.

When top rad hose gets hot and hot water comes out drain, shut engine off. Let drain. (you should see more old coolant coming out from what was in the block). Let drain, fill, repeat above until only clean, hot water comes out.

Put rad cleaner in, fill and leave rad cap off until engine reachs full temp and everything is circulating (to make sure no air pockets in system). The cleaner I used said to drive for 6-10 hours....... Did not have that kind of time. I just let it run for 20 minutes, then drove around for another 1/2 hour. Came home, let the motor completely cool down (another 1 hour at least) then did the whole flush thing over again.

It was amazing how dirty the water was after the cleaning. I know I got all the old coolant out too. I had clean HOT water coming out of the drain for 15 minutes on the first round of flushing.

After you have flushed ALL the cleaner out, drain rad, close drain valve, fill rad with the 2 gallons of 100% AF. It should take it. Pour kinda slow, so you don't create an air pocket. Top off the res with water until full. The rest of the 100% water is in the block, so once it all circulates, it'll give you the 50/50 mix.

This whole process takes the better part of a day, but I know it's done and I know I've gotten all the old crap out. Besides, it's a chance to spend working on my truck, drinking some beers and watching TV in my garage......... Beats doing house hold chores!

good luck and have fun!

 

hey mitch thanks for the reply. One more question-is there a fill cap on the raidiator itself or do i fill the raidiator with coolant through the resorvior on the right side? SOrry these neweer trucks scare me a little as im used to workin on my stock 53 cheby. Thanks again and you got hte part about the garage thing down!! Sittin around workin on trucks in your "second home"--aint nothin better

 

I did it the way Mitch said to do it, but I took out the thermatsat. That way you do not have to wait for the truck to get hot for the fluid to circulate. Its only two bolts and it takes an O-Ring to seal it. After I drained the old fluid, I drove it around the block 6 or 7 times(each with new water) and the end result was clean antifreeze. I drained the radiator for the last time and then filled it with 2 gallons of coolant. Don't forget to put the thermastat back in.

 

Green - Nope, only opening is via the reservoir.

I'll probably try the thermostat trick next time. I was planning on replacing it next time anyway. Thanks!

 

I just went and bought Prestone 100% coolant (2 gallons) and i was thinking of doing a 60/40 mix, since hte 70/30 mix seemed to protect at lower and higher temps then 50/50 does. I was wondering how much total does the raidiator hold? Will it be somewhere around 4 gallons?

 

IMO, I don't think it really makes much difference to go to a higher percentage, unless you live in sub zero temps or over 120*. 50/50 is good for like -30 to +250 or something like that. You actually get better cooling from having less AF in the system. The heat transfer is better with more water.

According to my manual, the system holds 19.4 quarts (5.4 W/AC), so I guess that's actually closer to 5 gallons!

So, thinking along those lines, you might want to top off to the full mark on the res with 100% AF??

I have one of those AF 'testers' and even with only 2 gallons of AF, my readings are well into the "-" and "+" ranges, so I don't worry about it and like I said, I feel it cools better with the little bit less of AF to begin with. But, that's just me and here in the NW, we don't get all that 'extreme' of weather anyway.

 

again mitch thanks for the info. Ill run back into town in a while and get anoter gallon of antifreeze (that'll make 3 total) and might get around to changing it all tonight if it dont dip below 40 degrees! Thanks again ill let ya know how it comes out!