TheJackal
Explorer Addict
- Joined
- August 11, 2007
- Messages
- 1,060
- Reaction score
- 4
- City, State
- Mandeville, LA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1999 Explorer XL 2WD
Had a day off today and the weather was great, so time to get some things done on the good old Ex. :exp:
Didn't do anything major, just oil change, coolant flush, and replaced sway bar links & bushings.
This stuff is pretty much self-explanatory but I took some pics just cause.
:
Getting ready to drain the coolant. I bought two of these "Dispos-Oil" containers from Advance Auto. They each hold 3 gallons of liquid.
This is the old coolant in the system, ready to be drained. The floating metal pieces are from a "Liquid Copper" stop leak product that I put in the system back when I thought I had a major leak, and desperation set in. It's one of a few reasons why I flushed the system.
Coolant overflow reservoir. Same thing here. Was kind of nasty even before the stop leak got into it.
Coolant draining out of the radiator. Note the air dam is removed to access the drain. The drain has a nipple for a hose, but I didn't have anything that size. If you back the draincock out too far, it'll flow out of both the drain opening and around the draincock itself. Use a 19mm ratchet to open/close the draincock but don't get carried away; it's plastic.
I will be using Prestone "Super Flush" today.
Flushed out all the old coolant with tap water first.
First two gallons of distilled water and Prestone flushing chemical are in.
The sway bar, and old links removed.
Has anyone ever seen a bug like this before? Really strange! I wonder if the smell of antifreeze attracted it?
Coolant overflow, after flushing. Never seen it this clean before.
Getting there...
Water taken from the last drain before finishing. Unfortunately, I ran out of distilled water, or I would have flushed again. As you can see the water was not completely clear, but it had to do. Next time I will get 2-3 gallons more.
The last gallon jug compared to ones drained earlier today.
Getting ready to fill the radiator with 1.5 gallons Motorcraft green coolant, and the rest of the way with distilled water.
I went with Motorcraft coolant because I've found Prestone and the rest to be this "universal" coolant. I was never too sure about this so I looked up about it prior to flushing and found that "universal" coolant isn't actually universal at all. From what I've read Prestone is actually similar to Dex-Cool than it is anything else. Coolant actually has a lot of functions, from corrosion resistance to lubrication properties, and because it's important I stuck with Motorcraft.
According to the Motorcraft application guide, beginning with the 1999 model year, you can choose between using Motorcraft green or yellow extended-life coolant in the system. However you must completely and thoroughly flush the old stuff out before using the other; you cannot mix them. I stuck with the green stuff for now, but may flush again and change to yellow in the future, especially if I buy another Ford vehicle equipped with yellow coolant so I don't have to have 2 different types.
Unfortunately I didn't realize until now that I didn't take any pics of the new sway bar stuff? :scratch: Brain fart there I guess. But it's all in and working nicely. :exp:
Didn't do anything major, just oil change, coolant flush, and replaced sway bar links & bushings.
This stuff is pretty much self-explanatory but I took some pics just cause.
:Getting ready to drain the coolant. I bought two of these "Dispos-Oil" containers from Advance Auto. They each hold 3 gallons of liquid.
This is the old coolant in the system, ready to be drained. The floating metal pieces are from a "Liquid Copper" stop leak product that I put in the system back when I thought I had a major leak, and desperation set in. It's one of a few reasons why I flushed the system.
Coolant overflow reservoir. Same thing here. Was kind of nasty even before the stop leak got into it.
Coolant draining out of the radiator. Note the air dam is removed to access the drain. The drain has a nipple for a hose, but I didn't have anything that size. If you back the draincock out too far, it'll flow out of both the drain opening and around the draincock itself. Use a 19mm ratchet to open/close the draincock but don't get carried away; it's plastic.
I will be using Prestone "Super Flush" today.
Flushed out all the old coolant with tap water first.
First two gallons of distilled water and Prestone flushing chemical are in.
The sway bar, and old links removed.
Has anyone ever seen a bug like this before? Really strange! I wonder if the smell of antifreeze attracted it?
Coolant overflow, after flushing. Never seen it this clean before.
Getting there...
Water taken from the last drain before finishing. Unfortunately, I ran out of distilled water, or I would have flushed again. As you can see the water was not completely clear, but it had to do. Next time I will get 2-3 gallons more.
The last gallon jug compared to ones drained earlier today.
Getting ready to fill the radiator with 1.5 gallons Motorcraft green coolant, and the rest of the way with distilled water.
I went with Motorcraft coolant because I've found Prestone and the rest to be this "universal" coolant. I was never too sure about this so I looked up about it prior to flushing and found that "universal" coolant isn't actually universal at all. From what I've read Prestone is actually similar to Dex-Cool than it is anything else. Coolant actually has a lot of functions, from corrosion resistance to lubrication properties, and because it's important I stuck with Motorcraft.
According to the Motorcraft application guide, beginning with the 1999 model year, you can choose between using Motorcraft green or yellow extended-life coolant in the system. However you must completely and thoroughly flush the old stuff out before using the other; you cannot mix them. I stuck with the green stuff for now, but may flush again and change to yellow in the future, especially if I buy another Ford vehicle equipped with yellow coolant so I don't have to have 2 different types.
Unfortunately I didn't realize until now that I didn't take any pics of the new sway bar stuff? :scratch: Brain fart there I guess. But it's all in and working nicely. :exp:
