Antifreeze

[nycnftm]

Hello I've had my 1997 5.4 for about 3 years now. In 2018 I replaced a whole bunch of stuff and the plan is to not fix anything over $500 again. Since I've owned it the antifreeze looks awful. It was a shade of pink. I used the thing with the balls in it to test it and it says it is fine. I probably know the answer but would you guys have it flushed and replaced to make it green or just drive it until you have a problem. It is a second vehicle and I put about 100 miles a week on it, but tired of getting stuck.

 

[ExplorerTom]

The thing about "driving it until you have a problem" is usually what leads to problems. Some preventative maintenence prevents things like that.

I say flush it. Do it yourself and it'll cost about $30 in coolant. Watch YouTube for how-to videos.

 

[Trainmaster]

Bad antifreeze will eventually permit corrosion and clogging your heater core. Since both that and the radiator are beast jobs to replace, I'd do all I could to prolong their lives.

Paying someone to do it may cause more harm than good. If you don't have a garage you can trust, and you don't know how to do it, leave it alone.

 

[1955moose]

Ace hardware has the green premix coolant on sale through Sunday for $3.99 a gallon, limit 2 unfortunately. I'm picking my 2 up today. Dump it now before other issues pop up.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[Idahokid]

That’s a good deal on the green.Im thinking of flushing mine and putting the gold coolant in it.Ive got six years on my coolant.

 

[terryb99]

That’s a good deal on the green.Im thinking of flushing mine and putting the gold coolant in it.Ive got six years on my coolant.

I converted my 2000 to Gold G-05.
Make sure to do a complete flush to get rid of all the old green .I have rear heat/AC, so took extra effort to get it all out.
I drained the radiator and put in some flush ( I use Caterpillar's) then topped off with distilled water .I drove to work and back, making sure to use the rear heat. I then drained and refilled with distilled water again.
Took about 5 times until I was happy with what was coming out .
For the final drain I also removed the lower radiator hose and also pulled the heater hoses from the back heater, draining everything I could .
Then filled with G-05 and topped with distilled water .

 

[Trainmaster]

Since this guy plans on running the truck to the ground, I'd just drain the awful stuff and replace it with the $4 50/50 mix.

 

[Idahokid]

I converted my 2000 to Gold G-05.
Make sure to do a complete flush to get rid of all the old green .I have rear heat/AC, so took extra effort to get it all out.
I drained the radiator and put in some flush ( I use Caterpillar's) then topped off with distilled water .I drove to work and back, making sure to use the rear heat. I then drained and refilled with distilled water again.
Took about 5 times until I was happy with what was coming out .
For the final drain I also removed the lower radiator hose and also pulled the heater hoses from the back heater, draining everything I could .
Then filled with G-05 and topped with distilled water .

I have some catapiller stuff at work but not the G05.All heavy duty diesel coolants.I do have a OAT base coolant at work I could use.Thanks for the tip.

 

[rjdelp7]

Draining only removes 70%. It takes about 90 minutes. It is an easy job. Getting rid of old stuff, that is a different story. I read about adding something called a sacrificial metal anode, to the reservior tank. The theory is, it get eaten away before anything vital.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Hello I've had my 1997 5.4 for about 3 years now. In 2018 I replaced a whole bunch of stuff and the plan is to not fix anything over $500 again. Since I've owned it the antifreeze looks awful. It was a shade of pink. I used the thing with the balls in it to test it and it says it is fine. I probably know the answer but would you guys have it flushed and replaced to make it green or just drive it until you have a problem. It is a second vehicle and I put about 100 miles a week on it, but tired of getting stuck.

The specific gravity testers only indicate freeze protection. Your antifreeze/coolant will offer heat protection indefinitely and freeze protection for as long as it shows good on an appropriate tester. However, the antifreeze will only offer corrosion protection for a limited time and there is no way to test that easily to my knowledge, which is why the recommendation is to simply replace it every X miles/years.

Now as for it being pink, it sounds like you have some type of OAT or hybrid coolant in there. The orange stuff appears pink when you mix it with water and they do actually make pink coolants as well. I wouldn't go green unless you plan on completely flushing out the old stuff via a vacuum filler or by running water through there several times over. Mixing different types of coolant can result in gel that clogs up your system.

 

[nycnftm]

Thanks for the replies. I live in an apartment complex that is strict about driveway repairs so that is out. Seems that when I choose a local mechanic it becomes the old adage 'buy cheap, buy twice'. The Lincoln dealership is closer than Ford and they want $150 to do it. I have another air conditioner guy who replaced my heater core when I had a 4.1 Eldorado (worse money pit). Going to see what his fee is. Thanks again