I've got a 2006 5.4L that I'm going to do a coolant flush on.

First, I'm going to run a quart of Motorcraft VC-1 to flush the system. Next, I'm going to run distilled water through the system with the engine running until it's clear.

My question is - should I switch my 2006 to the Motorcraft Yellow or stick with the Gold? This is all assuming I do the flush completely beforehand.

Thanks.

 

if you do a proper flush, you can switch coolants. Just follow service interval for what you pick. I believe in picking what will likely always be readily available.

follow this for flush :

 

Thanks, this is what I thought as well. I appreciate the response. Seems like the MC Yellow is superior to the Gold and is wildly available.

 

Nothing wrong with that. I went with generic yellow, because I believe it just as good and cheaper…. And because if there is any difference and I’m ever in a jam in some random place, it’ll always be avail.

but I bet they are identical and you could mix and match (the yellow and never know/care).

 

Ps: depending on status of other maint and how long you intend to keep your truck, consider doing water pump/belt/tensioner and pulleys at the same time. It doesn’t really take that much longer to do them at same time. And if you buy parts online it’s not that much money. *** but only use a motorcraft tstat if you change that out too ***.

 

I would definitely do the T-stat though.. remove for the flush.

 

Here is what I did to flush my system
You can collect your drainage in a "cement mixing tray" from Lowes or HD, it costs under $10 and works great.
You should collect the existing used 50/50 mix as you drain it and not run it on the ground especially if you or your neighbor is on well water.
After draining the used 50/50, I refilled with tap water, ran it until warmed up and drained it again into the mixing tray. The drain and the fill and drain collected about 20 quarts of used fluid that will need to be disposed of, Jiffy Lube took mine.
Once second fill and drain was completed, I filled, partially opened the drain and did a feed and bleed with the garden hose while maintaining coolant reservoir level. I did this for about 30-45 minutes and then closed the drain and allowed engine to cool before draining and refilling with distilled water and driving about 10 miles before turning the engine off, allowing it to cool and draining the distilled water and repeating this procedure (10 miles x 2) two additional times. That's three flushes with distilled water.
Before you do this final drain you need find a method to measure the final drain fluid volume and I used the cement mixing tray.
Note: You need to know the system volume and for a 4.6 it is right around 20 qts but you need to confirm this before you drain for the final time. Why do you need to know the system volume? Because to end up with a 50% mixture you need to drain out at least 50% 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. In my case I drained 9 qts (I did not drain the lower radiator hose but you should) and my system volume was 20.6 quarts giving me a 43% mixture so not a freezing problem for me in Mississippi but I will continue to top off with 100% as level permits to provide additional corrosion protection.
OK it's time to drain in preparation for the new 50/50 mix. Put your empty drain container in place and drain the distilled water until it stops draining and measure the amount you drained and if necessary, drain the lower radiator hose to ensure you empty out enough to provide room for the 100% coolant you are going to be adding. Lets assume your total system volume is 20qts and you were able to drain 10 qts then you will need to add 10qts of 100% anitfreeze to mix with the 10qts left in the block to obtain a 50/50 final mix.
If possible, I would avoid removing engine block drain plugs since in my opinion you may create more problems than it's worth. Things break.
Mine is a 2007 F150 4.6L 2v 4x4, 20.6 quarts.

 

although you can measure drained fluid, it’s much easier to just calculate while doing distilled flushing…… drain system and then just Count/measure how many gallons of distilled it takes to refill.

 

Great info, yall - thanks.

I've decided to just go ahead and stick with the Motorcraft Gold. I'm still gonna flush it and replace the thermostat but I've decided switching to Yellow probably isnt going to get me anything better. The truck runs fine and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

The truck came with Gold. Gold is still available. Yellow is approved to use. Yellow is the latest formulation. Both would be safe. I would use whatever is lowest in price, that meets specifications. My own choice would be an aftermarket brand because those are usually less expensive.