StriderTacticaL

So i'm planning on changing my radiator fluid next week and it's the first time I will have ever done so. I want to do it because it hasn't been changed since I bought the car and the coolant in the tank looks kinda dirty. I want to change it so I know where I am at in terms of my car's maintenance. I'm not sure whats in it right now but it's yellow colored so I'm assuming it's that GM dex-cool stuff?

Anyway I searched for a how-to and I found one on bullittarchive.com and it seems relatively straight forward. The guy basically also did some flushing with water an etc. My question is can I/should I just simply drain and refill?

I'm planning on getting some pre-mixed fluid and I was wondering if I could just drain my old fluid, plug the cap, pour in some of the new stuff, run the car for a while and then drain again to hopefully remove most of the old crap thats left in it and then refill a final time.

Obviously some of the old stuff will still be in there. Is it ok for some of the yellow type coolant to mix with the green type which is what I plan on getting?


What would be the best coolant to get? Prestone?


I'm also planning on trying out Royal Purple's Purple Ice addictive.




Thanks,
Brandon

Frostbitten

get some Prestone super cleaner from autozone. Its like 5 bucks, but you just pour it in the radiator and it breaks up all that crud. You can go ahead and drain that old coolant out now, (Best way to drain all the coolant from the block is to remove the lower radiator hose) then refill with a mixture of water and the cleaner solution. Drive it around like that for a day or two, then drain it. refill with straight water then drive it until it gets to operating temp. let car cool, then drain water and refill with a desired mixture of green coolant and water. The coolant that is in your system now is not gm dexcool, if it were you would have experienced problems by now. these cars cannot use gm dexcool. it is more likely to be the factory fill motorcraft gold coolant. you can replace with motorcraft gold or any green antifreeze. The pre mixed antifreeze is a rip off. Your paying the same price for a half gallon of actual antifreeze as you would for a whole gallon

StriderTacticaL

Thanks for the reply.

I'm still a bit confused about the whole process but I think I got it pretty down pat. Instead of doing it over a period of a couple of days, can I just do it all in one sitting?

Is it true that the cooling system will ony full circulate when the fan spins periodically whilst the car is in operating temperature?

Because after I drain out the flushing solution I was wondering if I can just continously pour in some mixed coolant (with the car running) into the radiator tank until it pushes out all the flushing solution. Then cap the drain plug and continue filling to the full mark?

Also should I have the heater set to max evertime the car is running while I am doing the work?

And by the way would it be a good time to install a 180 degree 'stat? I have heard mixed things about running a lower temp stat, particuarly I heard the iron block works better with the stock stat.


Thanks,
Brandon

Frostbitten

having the heater turned on wont have any effect on flushing out the system. Its hard to really get everything flushed out in one sitting. if you remove the lower hose gravity will drain everything besides a little bit in the heater core. the coolant wont be able to circulate if you leave the cap off the reservoir. It wont be able to build pressure. I would just drain what you have in there, refill it with plain water/cleaning solution, then let it run up to operating temperature for about 10 minutes, then let it cool and drain. then you should have gotten most of the old coolant out. you can get some 10 minute cleanin solution from the store also, but its not as effective as the stuff you leave in for 2 days. Im also doing the same thing to my car except im going to use red line water wetter

pkwest

When filling first fill the expansion tank to the desired level and replace the cap. Now fill using the cross over filler plug. I use a two quart funnel screwed into the crossover half filled with water or coolant and run the engine with the heater turned to hot until all the bubbles escape from it. Never tighten it too tight when hot. When it cools down it gets tighter. If you have a problem removing the plug (someone tightened it when hot) you can heat it up with a propane torch to make it easier to get it off.

WhiteFoxGT

Ok Im just gonna chime in here really quick... Do NOT put dex-crap in your FORD

dex-cool is orange (can look almost red sometimes)

All newer Fords require the gold coolant. I recommend picking up some Motorcraft GOLD... 2 bottles should do it. And after you add a bottle, add the same amount of clean water along with it. 50/50 is ideal. Do not put dex-cool in there, or the kind you can mix with any color. Green will work, but Gold is ideal