What would be the best way to do this coolant flush?

[wtd]

My fiance's 2017 F150 with the 5.0L is due for a coolant change. It has the old orange coolant which is no longer available so I will use the new recommended yellow coolant. The system holds 15.9 quarts. From everything I have read, a radiator drain only gets out about 1.5 gallons.

If I do a flush where I drain and refill with distilled water and run it up to temp and then keep doing that until what is drained from the radiator is clear, I will end up with more water in the block and other places than I can put back into the radiator so my percentages will be off from 50/50.

What do you guys do in a situation like this?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

The Lisle coolant funnel is awesome, so get one if you don't already have it.

The new yellow coolant is just Prestone Cor-Guard (the 300k coolant). You don't need to do the complete flush with water, since the new stuff is just a dexclone anyway.

Just drain what comes out, and refill with the Prestone stuff using the Lisle funnel.

 

[billt460]

My fiance's 2017 F150 with the 5.0L is due for a coolant change. It has the old orange coolant which is no longer available so I will use the new recommended yellow coolant. The system holds 15.9 quarts. From everything I have read, a radiator drain only gets out about 1.5 gallons.

If I do a flush where I drain and refill with distilled water and run it up to temp and then keep doing that until what is drained from the radiator is clear, I will end up with more water in the block and other places than I can put back into the radiator so my percentages will be off from 50/50.

What do you guys do in a situation like this?

On my older (1991) 5.0L F-150 I do the Drain / Fill / Run until the water comes out clear. For this I use regular tap water. No flushing tees, or pressurized flushing.

The first time you do this it will take a few minutes until the engine fully warms up, and the thermostat opens. After the engine is fully warm, subsequent fill and drain cycles go quickly. Be sure to have the heater controls set to HIGH, so the heater core gets flushed out as well.

After the water starts to drain out clear, I then do at least 3 more Drain / Fill / Run cycles with pure distilled water.

Lastly, I allow everything to drain really well, then fill both the radiator and overflow tank with 100% antifreeze concentrate. (No "50/50 Mix"). This generally takes just under 1-1/2 to 2 gallons. I then drive the vehicle until it's been running at operating temperature for 15 minutes or so, then park it.

By the next morning it will usually suck down the overflow tank quite low. This is most likely filling any places in the system that have air trapped. I then top it off with pure antifreeze, and I'm good to go. When I'm all finished, I usually end up with about a 60/40 antifreeze / water mix.

I also make it a habit to replace the radiator cap when I do this... Usually every 3 years. (They're just a few bucks). The vehicle still has the factory original heater core. (32 years old). And I replaced the radiator back in 1997, and it's still going strong. So I must be doing something right.

All of this is a bit time consuming, but very easy to do. And your reward will be a nice, clean cooling system.

 

[MSCH]

lazy me just removes the bottom radiator hose and a heater hose and blows it out with air...
if I am a little more ambitious, I might run a garden hose into the heater hose and flush it a bit with tap water.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I would drain the rad, fill with distilled water, take it for a spin. Let cool. Drain the rad. Add distilled water. Take it for a spin. Let cool. Add 100% coolant. This will get you close enough. There would still be some old coolant in the system but that would be helpful to get the concentration up.

If you took it to a garage, most would drain the rad and fill it with 50/50 which leaves a lot of the old coolant in the system.

 

[Snagglefoot]

On my older (1991) 5.0L F-150 I do the Drain / Fill / Run until the water comes out clear. For this I use regular tap water. No flushing tees, or pressurized flushing.

The first time you do this it will take a few minutes until the engine fully warms up, and the thermostat opens. After the engine is fully warm, subsequent fill and drain cycles go quickly. Be sure to have the heater controls set to HIGH, so the heater core gets flushed out as well.

After the water starts to drain out clear, I then do at least 3 more Drain / Fill / Run cycles with pure distilled water.

Lastly, I allow everything to drain really well, then fill both the radiator and overflow tank with 100% antifreeze concentrate. (No "50/50 Mix"). This generally takes just under 1-1/2 to 2 gallons. I then drive the vehicle until it's been running at operating temperature for 15 minutes or so, then park it.

By the next morning it will usually suck down the overflow tank quite low. This is most likely filling any places in the system that have air trapped. I then top it off with pure antifreeze, and I'm good to go. When I'm all finished, I usually end up with about a 60/40 antifreeze / water mix.

I also make it a habit to replace the radiator cap when I do this... Usually every 3 years. (They're just a few bucks). The vehicle still has the factory original heater core. (32 years old). And I replaced the radiator back in 1997, and it's still going strong. So I must be doing something right.

All of this is a bit time consuming, but very easy to do. And your reward will be a nice, clean cooling system.

I believe the OP’s 2017 truck flows coolant through the heater core 100% of the time so it makes no difference if the heat is set to high or not. It uses an electric flapper door to allow heat into the cab.

 

[billt460]

lazy me just removes the bottom radiator hose and a heater hose and blows it out with air...
if I am a little more ambitious, I might run a garden hose into the heater hose and flush it a bit with tap water.

I was thinking of doing this with my Jeep Grand Cherokee. I have to take off a bunch of stuff just to get at the drain plug on the radiator.

 

[JohnnyG]

THIS:

 

[TomYoung]

Lotta overkill on this thread. If your old coolant still looks good, drain what comes out easily with the heater on, and refill while running to burp out any air pockets. (the funnels that attach to the top of the radiator are great, but not necessary) Just my opinion.

 

[MSCH]

I was thinking of doing this with my Jeep Grand Cherokee. I have to take off a bunch of stuff just to get at the drain plug on the radiator.

my truck it's easier to take the lower radiator hose off at the engine side and drop it down in a bucket than it is to do anything on the radiator side.. so that is the way I do it..

 

[Snagglefoot]

Not sure exactly what year they changed but by 2008 at least, GM did away with the radiator drain and the radiator cap. The cap was now on the pressure tank and you removed a lower hose connection to drain the rad and part of the block. Can anyone confirm if it’s still that way on new GM trucks?

 

[wtd]

The Lisle coolant funnel is awesome, so get one if you don't already have it.

The new yellow coolant is just Prestone Cor-Guard (the 300k coolant). You don't need to do the complete flush with water, since the new stuff is just a dexclone anyway.

Just drain what comes out, and refill with the Prestone stuff using the Lisle funnel.

I do have the Lisle coolant funnel kit as well as an Airlift 550000 cooling system kit which I plan on using on this truck. Since the two coolants are supposedly compatible, I'm thinking of just draining the radiator and putting in a 50/50 mix of the yellow coolant and distilled water and leaving it at that. The factory coolant is six years old with 50,000 miles on it.

 

[wtd]

On my older (1991) 5.0L F-150 I do the Drain / Fill / Run until the water comes out clear. For this I use regular tap water. No flushing tees, or pressurized flushing.

The first time you do this it will take a few minutes until the engine fully warms up, and the thermostat opens. After the engine is fully warm, subsequent fill and drain cycles go quickly. Be sure to have the heater controls set to HIGH, so the heater core gets flushed out as well.

After the water starts to drain out clear, I then do at least 3 more Drain / Fill / Run cycles with pure distilled water.

Lastly, I allow everything to drain really well, then fill both the radiator and overflow tank with 100% antifreeze concentrate. (No "50/50 Mix"). This generally takes just under 1-1/2 to 2 gallons. I then drive the vehicle until it's been running at operating temperature for 15 minutes or so, then park it.

By the next morning it will usually suck down the overflow tank quite low. This is most likely filling any places in the system that have air trapped. I then top it off with pure antifreeze, and I'm good to go. When I'm all finished, I usually end up with about a 60/40 antifreeze / water mix.

I also make it a habit to replace the radiator cap when I do this... Usually every 3 years. (They're just a few bucks). The vehicle still has the factory original heater core. (32 years old). And I replaced the radiator back in 1997, and it's still going strong. So I must be doing something right.

All of this is a bit time consuming, but very easy to do. And your reward will be a nice, clean cooling system.

I have done this method in the past and it is time consuming for sure. My main concern like I originally posted is that the radiator holds less than the stated capacity of the system so even if I use 100% concentrate to fill the radiator back up, I will still have more water than coolant in the system which is what I don't want.

 

[wtd]

THIS:

View attachment 179872

I have the Robinair version of this tool which I will use when I'm done.

 

[wtd]

I would drain the rad, fill with distilled water, take it for a spin. Let cool. Drain the rad. Add distilled water. Take it for a spin. Let cool. Add 100% coolant. This will get you close enough. There would still be some old coolant in the system but that would be helpful to get the concentration up.

If you took it to a garage, most would drain the rad and fill it with 50/50 which leaves a lot of the old coolant in the system.

I may do this version since it will not take out all of the old coolant but enough to have more of the new stuff in than old.

 

[ripcord]

After you're done flushing, if you disconnect the lower radiator hose and drain everything into your bucket, then start the engine for a few seconds, you'll get a lot more than half of the water out. Then, just add concentrated coolant equal to half the total capacity of the system and top off with water until full.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

I do have the Lisle coolant funnel kit as well as an Airlift 550000 cooling system kit which I plan on using on this truck. Since the two coolants are supposedly compatible, I'm thinking of just draining the radiator and putting in a 50/50 mix of the yellow coolant and distilled water and leaving it at that. The factory coolant is six years old with 50,000 miles on it.

That is a good way to do it

 

[dogememe]

Just do a drain and fill and then another drain and fill at next oil change. Will be good enough.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Just do a drain and fill and then another drain and fill at next oil change. Will be good enough.

This is much like using " sacrificial" coolant instead of distilled water. You cut the distilled water with coolant but you end up draining the rad and throwing it away. It costs more but you get to the concentration you want with less old coolant retained.

 

[SHOZ]

I usually flush with rainwater or distilled until it has no taste... Then take a few hoses off and blow out as much water as I can. Fill with a gallon of 70/30% and then top off with 50/50. Settles in at around -25F.