Changing coolant in V-10

Regarding belts, when I change mine as a maintenance item, I stick the old belt in the vehicle to use as an emergency replacement. This only works if the old belt is still serviceable.

Hey Dennis,

Don't mess with the Freeze Plugs!

Properly called Core Plugs. Yes, sometimes one'll pop and save a frozen block from cracking elsewhere, but they're made to provide for cleaning the casting out during manufacture of the engine.

You shouldn't mess with them.

That is some great information especially about refilling it with water a couple times and then add coolant. I think you have convinced me NOT to mess with the freeze plugs. Thanks for the help.

pauldub wrote:
If you just want to get the old coolant out, you can fill it up with water once or twice and probably get 99.99% of the old coolant out. You can even do this with distilled water at less than a buck a gallon from Walmart. After the last drain, look up the coolant capacity and add that amount of straight coolant then fill the remainder with (distilled) water.

+1 This is how I do it. Rinse with $25 of distilled water, drain, fill 50% capacity spec with new coolant, top off with distilled.

tpi wrote:
GO 5 spec coolant is similar or identical to Ford Gold.

Yup. This is my go to coolant as well.

Note: "Universal" coolants won't react adversely with other colors, but they also don't provide the same level of proaction. In other words, its ok for topping off, but not coolant changes. Stick with Ford Gold or Zerex G-05.

Dennis,

Congratulations on being on the way to being an owner of a reliable vintage coach. Maintenance is The Key. Get a little spiral bound notebook and start a maintenance log. Your barind will not be able to store all this.

The List:
- Coolant goes bad not by failing to cool or allowing itself to freeze, but the corrosion inhibitors get used up. So if you replace the only part of the coolant with the same as original, it will be good again for 5 to 7 years. This is very important in a multi metal engine.(First because you asked.)
- Brake fluid absorbs water. This can lower its boiling point and start corrosion in the system. If the system is flushed with new fluid every 5 to 7 years, that will pretty stop any problems. Want it to last even longer? While in the process, wrap each bleed screw with plumbers teflon tape and make sure that the rubber caps get back on the bleed screws. This will keep the bleed screws from corroding and they will work for you again in 5 years.
- Belts work for about 10 years. If yours are older than that, at least carry spares. That little parts store in BFE will not have the correct number and serpentine belts have to be exact.
- When you are changing out the coolant the next time, inspect the hoses carefully. Coolant hoses seem to go for about 15 years.
- At the next big anniversary, closely inspect all the rubber that matters. By now the rig is twenty-five (and in most states you get get a hysteric (intensional spelling) plate and save a lot of money on annual registration. Maybe you can celebrate by replacing any rubber brake line that are looking tired.
- Speaking of tires....
You have heard that tires:
A - Have a manufactured date code. (write those in that notebook)
B - Are getting old at five and iffy at seven and dangerous at ten. If you have a conventional coach. At least keep the steer wheels in date. But the inside dual is always an issue because they get run low so often.
The real good answer with tires is to try to wear them out. This is better for the coach - too.
As to engine oil, it collects combustion by-products that (again) can cause corrosion and deplete the anti-wear additives. Synthetics stand up to heavy duty wear better, but are a limited value otherwise. They still have be changed out annually because of the contamination. Synthetic AFT is much the same, but does not have to deal with the contamination. It is real expensive and if you keep an eye on what you have and get it changed (with the filter) if it ever gets dark, you will be OK. This may change when it becomes vintage.
Gear oil and greases don't really age out. If it still has any grease fittings, change to Valvoline Synpro (8$/tube) and try to over grease it. Even as pricey as it is, it is still less expensive than changing parts.

Two special notes:
1 - Use nickel based anti seize on the sparkplugs. Many have lost the threads in a head.
2 - You were concerned about doing the coolant change on your own. If you can find a service manual for that chassis, buy it. Even if you do find one, try to engage the services of a native guide early on. Later on you will be afraid to let any ham-fisted kid touch your treasure.

Who is this guy and what is he babbling about???
He is a ship's engineer that came to work in Detroit and did lots of testing. He also has lots of old stuff that was not old when he got it. The coach in the sigpix is over 40 this year and we have plans to run it more than 12k this year. We are already at 6k for the year and loving the old girl.

I wish you many peaceful (boring) hours of driving and many wonderful memories.

Matt

Oh and one more thing.. don't mistake the main bearing cross bolts for coolant drain. There is one block drain plug on each side of the V.

You're looking for something like this (a block drain plug):


URL for the page in case the pic doesn't stick:
http://www.f150online.com/forums/articles-how-tos/390423-howto-change-engine-coolant-antifreeze.html

It is not routine to pull out core plugs to flush coolant. Maybe an exception would be once the engine was removed/or a very dirty rusty cooling system where you're trying to flush the crud out of it.

I think everyone has given good advice. If you have gold looking coolant just drain and fill. You can often pull off the top radiator hose (after draining) and glance into the header tank and see the condition of the tubes. O

If you just want to get the old coolant out, you can fill it up with water once or twice and probably get 99.99% of the old coolant out. You can even do this with distilled water at less than a buck a gallon from Walmart. After the last drain, look up the coolant capacity and add that amount of straight coolant then fill the remainder with water. I really don't think you want to go down the path of removing the freeze plugs, even if it is possible to do it in situ. Regarding freeze plug removal; if you want to take a look for yourself, pull off the doghouse and see what you think.

Thanks for the responses. I still would like to know if anyone has actually removed the freeze plugs and how hard they were to get to.