coolant change

[04hdfatboy]

Well i am looking at doing a coolant change and going with CAT ELC. Should i change the thermostat also to be safe? Also would a thermostat from carquest be ok or should i get one from the ford dealership? Should i just flush with water or with some kind of a radiator flush? Thanks

[NYC F-350]

Getting a new thermostat would be a good idea. Ford would be a better bet than carquest.
Flush with distilled water, I'm not 100% sure if you use the VC-9 on your year truck, but I think so.
Flush it by draining out what you can by pulling the lower rad hose and block plugs, would be a good idea to pull the thermostat and put it together without one, fill with VC-9 and distilled, go for a good long drive (30-40 minutes AFTER reaching operating temp). Then drain again, refill with straight distilled, go for a ride to get it up to temp, then drain, fill, drive, drain, fill, drive, until the water comes out clear, then replace the thermostat, refill with your ELC and distilled water mixture. To be sure that you end up with a 50-50 mix, find out what your cooling system holds, divide that number by two (of course), then add that amount of straight ELC concentrate. The block/heater core will retain some water that you will not be able to get out and would throw off your mixture if you fill with pre-diluted ELC.
You never want to put tap water in there, ever. Tap water contains a lot of minerals that can create problems later.

[jermcarthur]

I printed the TSB for the Ford flush procedure. I will post it when i get home. It is a very long procedure. The flat rate calls for 9.5 hours. I purchased restore and restore + for the cleaning agents. Using the restore will cut several hours off the process.

[04hdfatboy]

i also am going to use restore and restore + when i do my coolant flush

[jlint1988]

Originally Posted by jermcarthur

I printed the TSB for the Ford flush procedure. I will post it when i get home. It is a very long procedure. The flat rate calls for 9.5 hours. I purchased restore and restore + for the cleaning agents. Using the restore will cut several hours off the process.

yea, that would be great if you posted that. cause if ford cause for 9.5 hours then god know how much it would cost and they probaly would not put CAT back in it for you.