Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Maintenance Antifreeze type to use with flush

Hello all. I have a '98 CSVT that I am doing a coolant flush on. Just wanted to see what type of coolant you all use. Is Peak brand OK? or is Prestone any better? And what is the final word on Dexcool?

Towne Ford says that any ordinary green coolant will work for this application along with regular garden hose water. But I am interested to know if anyone hears otherwise.

Hose water to flush or to fill with? Definately use distilled water to fill. I have used Dexcool in all of my vehicles with no ill effects.

The service dept said that hose water is fine to fill with, similar to the Coolant Change How-To

If sufficient rust inhibitors are in your coolant, regular tap water should be fine, but that's a big should. Best bet is to spend that whopping couple bucks for distilled water and know that there are no minerals in your water.

SAE J814, 1998 SAE Handbook

Quote:

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Clean potable water, low in chloride, sulfate, and hardness is generally acceptable. Brackish or undrinkable water should not be used. Softened, deionised, or distilled wateris ideal to dilute engine coolant concentrate. With properly inhibited coolant concentrate, water meeting the requirements of Table 1 is acceptable. Water impurities execeeding these levels can cause excessive scale, sludge deposits and increased corrosion.

Table 1 - Water Quality Property Requirement
Total Solids (maximum) 340 ppm
Total Hardness (maximum) 170 ppm
Chloride ( as NaCl ) (maximum) 40 ppm
Sulfate ( as Na2SO4 ) (maximum) 100 ppm
pH 5.5 to 9.0

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Since I'm way too lazy to measure my tap water for these metrics, I buy distilled.

OK, I've updated the How To notes with distilled water and flushing the heating system at the same time. I will get Big Jim to review:


Fluids needed:
* 6 quarts (1.5 gallons) of any "green type" full strength antifreeze (Peak, Prestone, etc) or Dexcool
* 4 gallons of distilled water

First drain the radiator from the petcock on the bottom right rear of the radiator. The petcock is turned with a fairly large bladed screwdriver. Access is a bit awkward, and for the first time it may help to remove the belly pan. The screw can be hard to turn. To make it easier to tighten up again, smear the threads with a little silicon dielectric grease. The petcock does not come out of the radiator and you can smear the grease on without taking it all of the way out.

This will drain the radiator and the coolant bottle, but very little of the block. Pour distilled water into the coolant bottle until the water coming out of the radiator is fairly clear. Close the petcock.

Find the Engine temperature sending unit. It is in an aluminum tube roughly below the throttle body. It has one wire attached to it. You may want to remove the air inlet hose to the throttle body for better access. Remove the wire, then remove the sending unit. Mine needed a 17 mm wrench or you may be able to use a 17 mm deep socket.

Turn the engine on and the heat on high. Pour distilled water into the coolant bottle and allow it to flow until the water coming out of the temp sender hole is nearly clear. This will drain the heads, upper block, and heating system.

Open the radiator petcock again and drain the radiator one more time so you will have enough room from the proper quantity of coolant. Reinstall the temp sender, reconnect the temp sender wire, and reconnect the air intake hose.

Now add full strength anti-freeze coolant to the bottle. It should take a full gallon and possibly a little more. After running the engine and bringing it up to temperature to make sure the thermostat opens you may need a little more coolant. You may also need to add a little more over the next few days if there were any air pockets. You will probably end up using about 5 quarts, possibly 6 quarts.

I'll leave others to debate which coolant to use. I use Dexcool, but I switched over when the car was one year old. Current conventional wisdom is to use the coolant your car came with but change it often. Current conventional wisdom is also if you are going to switch, do it when the car is relatively new and do a very thorough flush first. My Escape came with yellow hybrid coolant, and that is what I used on it's first flush and intend to continue to use, still changing it annually.

Looks good to me!

you didn't add any more water since there is some still stuck inside the block correct? Not exactly precise on what percentage of a mixture you want to add though huh?

If you try to premix it before adding it to the reservoir you're not ending up with the concentration you hoped for after it circulates through the system. The water already in the system will dilute what you're adding.

I always add pure antifreeze into the reservoir after a flush. I know that if the system has a 9 quart capacity and I manage to just add 4 quarts of antifreeze I'll have about a 44% mixture after everything blends together.