Coolant flush

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coachhomer

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Is there a petcock on the radiator to drain the fluid? Can't seem to find where it might be. Any recommendations on how to do a complete flush?

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MTF

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On the passenger side on the bottom back side should be a white or black wingnut style plastic plug on the tank.

When I did mine I just removed the lower hose and removed the thermostat housing and pulled out the thermostat.
Bought 3 gallons of distilled water cheapest I could find to flush.
Next time I will remove the top heater hose from the engine and flush using a funnel as well.

I've read were some guys remove the engine block plug (allen key) on the drivers down by the oil pan between the two last cylinders.
 
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coachhomer

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Did you have to remove the skid plate? Can’t seem to find it. Got a pic?


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MTF

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@coachhomer

Well it makes doing the job a hell of a lot easier, I do not have a picture.
Spray those four bolts up really good from the top of the skid plate before loosening.

Oh crap I screwed up, my bad.
It's on the passenger side!!!
 
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MTF

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Ha, I just had to go down to my truck and look for myself, mine is black.
Maybe they change the color by year, who knows.
 
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coachhomer

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How many quarts of coolant does this truck take? Guy at the auto part store told me 15 but I didn’t get 15 in there. I got closer to 8.


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coachhomer

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Man I am struggling with this. When I drain the radiator I get maybe 6 quarts out? I opened the drain cap to get air flow for it to drain. When I try to fill it back up, it only took about 5-6 quarts. So I closed it up and ran the engine for three minutes to get it to circulate and the radiator started over heating. So I am letting it cool now to see if I can get more fluid in it. Thoughts?


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MTF

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I was only able to drain and refill about two and half gallons.
I still have the half gallon sitting on the shelf.
Good enough for me, I'll do it again when I hit 50K

If you have the stock thermostat it won't open till the engine gets to full operating temperature which is 195 degrees.
That's why I remove the thermostat to empty, it makes the job a little faster.
I also ran the engine for like 30 seconds a few times to make the water push a little more fluid out.
Your going to have to leave the cap off till it gets hot enough, you'll know when the thermostat opens.
There's air trapped in the engine now it's going to take some time to fully fill it again.
And it won't completely get all the air out.
That will happen after a few or more days of driving, just keep filling the overflow tank to the top line when you see it low.
As the engine gets hot it will push the air out though the cap and when it cools it will draw coolant back in.
It does that when getting on it too, it's just a slow process.
 
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