Hmm, not sure if you guys have shunned me for not being around lately or if nobody saw or had any suggestions for the thread I posted a few days ago re. what to do to my truck at 90k.

Anyway, I'll try a more specific question this time. I checked the stickies and did a couple of searches and didn't come up with much. I know it's not "rocket surgery" but neither is some of the other stuff we do have stickies for.

I need to flush and refill my coolant. It has never been done to date. Is there a 3rd gen specific DIY on this that I missed or does it not exist?

Is there a good coolant that anyone could recommend that would be generally available outside a dealer? My local dealer closed and the closest one is an hour away.

Is the procedure the same as would be considered typical:
- drain the radiator
- fill with flush and water, run until hot, let cool
- drain flush fluids
- fill with water, run until hot, let cool
- drain water
- fill with coolant (50%) and distilled water (50%)
- run until hot, top off in resorvoir if needed

Since Hammer posted a burping procedure, I assume there is no air release valve of any kind to be concerned with?

Oh, and this thing really holds 18.7 quarts of coolant? So I need to buy half that in coolant and the other half in distilled water, right?

 

I did mine on my 06' at around 80k if i recall. I did the procedure you described with one exception. Even though i bought the flush chemical, i opted not to use it since the when i drained the cooling system the coolant looked pristine. Not a drop of sediment in the bucket. The inside of the radiator was like new. Based on that, i figured the flush was a waste of time.

I went to the dealer and bought the coolant there. I would advise against using any coolant not approved for these engines. Simply because it is designed for it and based on how great my cooling systems conditon is, it obviously works very well.

Our trucks call for HOAT coolant which stands for Hybrid Organic Acid Technology

You can order the coolant by mail order and Zerex sells a version of it as well know as G-05. http://www.valvoline.com/products/br.../antifreeze/42

I spent a few weeks before i did my coolant change researching what you can and cannot use. And not a single reputible source said you should use ANYTHING but the factory Dodge stuff or the G-05 from Zerex. If anybody tries to tell you that Dex-Cool is the same thing or that so long as the color of the coolant you buy is the same as what is in your truck now, ignore them and shop elsewhere.

In my opinion, i would suggest ordering the proper coolant and then just buy the distilled water and flush chemical locally. Once you dump the coolant, look at it and the radiator and see if any sediment or deposits are in the radiator. If not, i would skip the flush chemical.

Lastly, don't forget to drain and clean the overflow tank.

 

NV, thanks. I'm familiar with Dex-Cool. From what I've read, it's total crap and I'd never put it in any of my vehicles.

 

Ive been using Prestone in my 04 ever since i bought it new and never an issue. Im just sayin..............

 

Dex-Cool - NO THANKS!!!

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/autom...m_dexcool.html


Use any HOAT type of coolant and you'll be fine...

 

and distilled water

 

I've seen the Zerex G-05 stuff in the local stores. Is that decent stuff? Looks like I'd need 3 gallons of it to get enough to halve 18.7 quarts. Sound right?

 

Yep, you will need 3. I ordered mine off Amazon, the stuff is hard to find.

 

would I need the HOAT kind in my 07 4.7 and how do you drain the overflow thanks

 

If you follow the procedure laid out in the FSM, you'll *******ly drain the entire system, including the overflow tank.

When I did a coolant replacement on mine a couple of years ago, I did a 2 phase cleaning and flush, using 2 different types of cleaner
One containing sodium metasylicate (sp) sludge suspension agent.
The other, phosphoric and citirc acid , both are very slow, for knocking out scale on aluminum.

I then filled with the zerex g05 and distilled.

The heating in the truck works surprisingly better, and I've never had any troublr with the engine cooling, even under the highest of loads, and the truck has 164 K on it.

Just my experience.