Hi I hope someone can tell me what is happening with my 2000 F150 XLT 4.6l. I was doing a coolant flush and fill before the weather changes in the northeast and I see this going on. I usually work on all my ford trucks myself but I'm not even sure what the problem is here! WTF I'm not sure how to post a picture so I am throwing the link here https://photos.app.goo.gl/y2ParvcWLTTn62qT6

 

Coolant is leaking. You probably bumped a hose or left something loose. The words that you wrote do not tell enough to guess any more than that.

Actually, it looks like a gasket might have blown. When you rev the engine like that you can create higher pressure than normal in parts of the system.

p.s. that's a video, not a picture.

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the plastic intake manifold that sits under that aluminum coolant crossover may be cracked. This is not uncommon, and is a design flaw (Ford even changed the design for 2002 as they knew it was a problem). Heating and cooling cycles eventually fatigue the plastic, and can cause coolant to leak out like that.

I hope I'm wrong, but be prepared!

 

Did you change or remove/reinstall the thermostat? If so, you may have the thermostat out of position blocking the flanges from being drawn together.
Just a heads up - your cooling system contains ~20 quarts of water antifreeze mix.
Why do you need to know the system volume? Because to end up with a 50% mixture you need to drain out at least half of the system volume so that you can put the proper amount of 100% coolant into your system to bring the total system concentration to 50/50.

 

You should always premix your coolant in a separate container before pouring it in the engine.
Never should you do what you stated above, unless absolutely necessary like being stranded and having no choice.

 

not saying you are ‘wrong’ or that that isn’t the recommended procedure, but I don’t really understand the risk (of not premixing), as long as you ultimately reach proper ratio?

when doing a proper flush, you end up having to adjust for all the 100% water in block anyway (meaning adding an ~ 70% mix to reach a final ~ 50%)

Guessing risk/downside is some uneven cooling until it fully mixes, but I’m just guessing.

 

you can certainly do what you are saying, its just that doing that method can lead to errors.
Murphy's law states that what ever can will go wrong.
You could also mess up the ratio if not careful and cause overheating or other issue due to having to thick mixture or too diluted.
So in order to reduce the amount of variables that can go wrong, you choose the safer method.
(Say in winter you do the coolant flush and refill it the way you state, now if you don't allow the car to run a sufficient amount of time, the water that isn't mixed yet can crystalize(freeze) and cause issues(not that it necessarily will). if you premix it and then fill it, you can avoid this potential danger, again you need to mix your mix lol.)

 

50:50 is not critical, it's just a standard measure. Easy to get to. In hot areas of the world they often use less antifreeze and more water because pure water transfers more heat. But if you do a flush or lose some coolant and you're not sure how much will be needed to refill then premixing makes sense. Otherwise you can waste a lot of coolant trying to get to where you want the blend to be.

There are tools for determining antifreeze concentration. I've not seen the refractomer until now, kind of neat.



https://www.autozone.com/heating-and...coolant-tester

https://www.autoguide.com/best-antifreeze-testers

 

if you’ve done a flush and have 100% water in block how do you do your method?

 

i follow (and agree with) all you’ve said.

What is your opinion on “risk” of not “premixing”, given that the actual or total % in system is acceptable % once it mixes in system.