Thinking
98 F150 5.4L E40D/4R100
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 28,523
Likes: 7,635
From: MI
I do that initially, but only to the t-stat. I reattach once the coolant reaches that point. It's from there the problem can manifest.
98 F150 5.4L E40D/4R100
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 28,523
Likes: 7,635
From: MI
If I have the front end up , everything is hunky dory. Attempted the flush method for the first and last time last winter. Flushed it 5 times and still couldn't get residual block coolant as clean as I would of liked. Clean enough, but you run out of distilled quick that lol. So I used city water the first 4 , then a distilled flush. Then used the concentrated w/distilled. I'll just pull the plug next time. Pulling the block plug doesn't get everything out, you would need a block plug on both sides. These trucks just have the one on the drivers side. However - if you use compressed air to assist, you get most of it. So, that's the way I've done it in the past.
I had a bad Motorcraft stat out of the box the last time, it wouldn't open. Wasn't a big deal, the old one still looked new...thru that back in.
EDIT and NOTE: Each time it was flushed (5 times), the engine was run up to operating temperature, then run for 10 minutes which is flushing procedure. A motorcraft flushing agent was used the first time. Flush #4 showed a slight contamination with a light tint of green. That's what I'm referring to as contamination. That might of been okay, I would of liked to see it clear. The block holds too much residual to flush clean without draining thru the block plug first. Drain that first, initially, then reinstall the drain plug and drain/flush normally. Much cleaner and quicker.
I had a bad Motorcraft stat out of the box the last time, it wouldn't open. Wasn't a big deal, the old one still looked new...thru that back in.
EDIT and NOTE: Each time it was flushed (5 times), the engine was run up to operating temperature, then run for 10 minutes which is flushing procedure. A motorcraft flushing agent was used the first time. Flush #4 showed a slight contamination with a light tint of green. That's what I'm referring to as contamination. That might of been okay, I would of liked to see it clear. The block holds too much residual to flush clean without draining thru the block plug first. Drain that first, initially, then reinstall the drain plug and drain/flush normally. Much cleaner and quicker.
Last edited by Jbrew; Oct 19, 2020 at 08:23 PM.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 8,545
Likes: 2,552
From: Alaska
This is going to sound funny, but I've never had a problem getting the system to burp itself with just a bit of driving and the cap loose. I did have problems with the E350 MH's with 5.4. They always seemed to take an extra bit of time and energy. We learned to raise the front ends on them with 16" jacks. They burped quickly that way (as Brew mentioned).
The B chassis, no matter the brand, were always a biatch to flush and fill. The Chevy's wouldn't burp without adding a flush tee, period. Luckily there were few and far between Mopars. I hated their vans to work on. Cheap wiring seemed to be their biggest downfall. You had to run additional wires to have enough size to run rear trailering functions (e-brakes etc). Almost every tag on the 98 up models had Mexico as the source for the harness builds. Cheap, undersized wiring.
The B chassis, no matter the brand, were always a biatch to flush and fill. The Chevy's wouldn't burp without adding a flush tee, period. Luckily there were few and far between Mopars. I hated their vans to work on. Cheap wiring seemed to be their biggest downfall. You had to run additional wires to have enough size to run rear trailering functions (e-brakes etc). Almost every tag on the 98 up models had Mexico as the source for the harness builds. Cheap, undersized wiring.
