F150 coolant change

[buck91]

Going to be doing the coolant on my 2011 f150 this year and just wanted to see if anybody here had thoughts. It's spec'd for Ford Orange which is basically dexcool so I plan on running motorcraft/zerex/napa depending on price. Radiator petcock is easily accessible but is there any block drains to pull? Any funky issues with refilling and trapped air? At this time I don't plan to rinse touch the thermostat but is any type of over the counter flush a good idea?

Also, not a big fan of letting others do my work but if flushing is a good idea is it worth it to let the dealer do this for $110? First though says no because a couple simple radiator drain and fills are easy and cheap...

 

[CarbonSteel]

I just did my 2010 yesterday at 150K (it takes MC Gold). I drained about 1 QT out and installed MC radiator flush and ran it for about 150 miles. I then dumped it and proceeded to flush it out with distilled water (about 6 gallons worth). I added 3 gallons of MC Gold and 1.5 gallons of distilled water (the last .4 QT would not come out). It looks good at this point down to -34F. I may drain some later this year and add more pure MC Gold to it to bring the freeze point down a little further. It was -28F last year when we visited CO. I may also add a little red food coloring to the mix to make the coolant levels easier to see (a tip from a BITOG'er here)--you do not have that issue with the MC Orange (my Explorer has the same).

 

[Benito]

Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
I may also add a little red food coloring to the mix to make the coolant levels easier to see (a tip from a BITOG'er here)--you do not have that issue with the MC Orange (my Explorer has the same).


Shining any portable light (eg smartphone) at the correct angle also helps. I have to do that for brake and power steering fluid and my garage is not well lit.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
I just did my 2010 yesterday at 150K (it takes MC Gold). I drained about 1 QT out and installed MC radiator flush and ran it for about 150 miles. I then dumped it and proceeded to flush it out with distilled water (about 6 gallons worth). I added 3 gallons of MC Gold and 1.5 gallons of distilled water (the last .4 QT would not come out). It looks good at this point down to -34F. I may drain some later this year and add more pure MC Gold to it to bring the freeze point down a little further. It was -28F last year when we visited CO. I may also add a little red food coloring to the mix to make the coolant levels easier to see (a tip from a BITOG'er here)--you do not have that issue with the MC Orange (my Explorer has the same).

Red food color? My F150 uses the G-05 as well and I can see it very well.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Red food color? My F150 uses the G-05 as well and I can see it very well.
The MC version of G-05 is very light and my recovery tank is quite opaque. I forget who suggested it, but it only takes about a tablespoon or so. I am guessing mixing red and gold will produce an orange color of sorts.

 

[hatt]

Buck, it looks like you're going to be the test monkey. Report back. A bunch of people have this engine and are going to be coming up on a coolant change.

 

[buck91]

Well, I'm still in the middle. If I do a honest coolant flush including the Motorcraft flush and use either premix coolant or only distilled water then this could easily close the money gap between DIY and the dealer job. If I just do a couple drain and fills then DIY will definitely be cheaper.

Would really like to know if this 5.0 has any block drains for the coolant.

 

[hatt]

It appears from a little searching the 5.0 doesn't have any plugs on the block. I doubt any sort of flush product is needed, as long as the drained coolant looks good.