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Coolant change
Yahoo Message Number: 98677
The 2003 and later Ford E-450 comes from the factory filled with Motorcraft Premium Gold Engine Coolant. Ford says this is good for five years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.
That means that many of us with 2003/4 motorhomes are due for a coolant change. Here is what I learned and how I did mine. YMMV.

First, setting aside the foreign makes, there are three basic coolants on the market today. One is the traditional green coolant, which is an IAT technology. Next are the OAT coolants such as GM's Dexcool. Finally we have the HOAT coolants, such as the Motorcraft Gold in our E-450s.

The traditional IAT coolants are fine, but require more frequent changes. The OAT and HOAT coolants are different attempts to create long-life or extended life coolants. GM's OAT technology was first to the market, in the mid-90s, but had some problems that Ford has attempted to address in its HOAT coolant, which is sort of a hybrid of the OAT technology and a bit of the older IAT technology.

To make a long story short, Ford recommends that you stick with its Gold coolant or equivalent. And why not? What I found confusing was the presence of Prestone's Extended Life Coolant, which is heavily marketed as suitable for all cars and light trucks and mixing with any coolant. Sounds too good to be true, one coolant for all applications. A bit of Googling shows that Prestone is the only one who believes this and that others are skeptical of its claims. Ford, in particular, advises against it, though with little evidence.

Zerex takes a different approach than Prestone, marketing three basic coolants, an "old" IAT, an OAT GM Dexcool equivalent and a Ford/Chrysler HOAT equivalent. The latter is certified to meet Ford's standard for its Motorcraft Premium Gold Coolant. Prestone's Extended Life is not.

So my conclusion was either go to Ford and buy the Motorcraft Premium Gold Coolant or to my local NAPA and buy Zerex G-05, the equivalent of the Motorcraft product and also gold colored.
There is so little price difference, why take a chance on something that doesn't meet Ford's spec?

Having figured that out, here is how I did the coolant change with minimal fuss and effort, while watching the NFL playoffs.

Buy 4 gallons of undiluted Ford Premium Gold Coolant or Zerex G-05. Buy 10 gallons of distilled water. Get a 4-5 gallon bucket that will fit under the radiator and a medium crescent wrench.

Park the motorhome in a level spot with access to the front underside. Let it cool if it was running. Raise the hood and slowly (with a rag to protect you from the coolant) unscrew the cap on the coolant reservoir (rear driver's side corner of the engine compartment).

Crawl under the front bumper, locate the bottom of the radiator and the radiator drain valve on the bottom driver's side of the radiator. Place your bucket under the valve and use your crescent wrench to open it until coolant flows into the bucket. Let it drain until it stops. You'll get about 3.5 gallons of coolant out.

When it quits draining, close the drain valve and start pouring distilled water into the coolant reservoir until you've added back
3.5 gallons to make up what you drained. Put the cap back on
 the reservoir and go for a drive. 3-5 miles should do, long enough to heat the coolant, open the thermostat and circulate the coolant thoroughly. Return to your work spot.

Repeat this drain, distilled water fill and drive routine two more times, until you've used up the distilled water. When you do the fourth and final drain, close the radiator drain valve and snug it a bit with your crescent wrench (not too tight, it's plastic). You now will have removed almost all the old coolant and the engine and heater core will have mostly fresh distilled water in them and the radiator and plastic expansion tank/coolant reservoir will be empty.

Now pour undiluted coolant into the tank/reservoir. It should take about 3.5 gallons. Watch the cold fill mark on the side of the tank/reservoir as you're adding the final half gallon and fill just to the upper cold fill mark. Put the lid back on the tank and go for your final drive. This will mix the coolant you just added with the distilled water that was left in the engine after your final drain.

Our "single-row" radiator cooling system holds 29.4 quarts of coolant/water mix. When you add the 3.5 gallons (14 quarts) of pure coolant to the residual distilled water you'll have about a 48% coolant mix. The target is 50%. Watch the coolant reservoir over the next few trips and the coolant level will drop a bit as residual air in the system is displaced by coolant. Top off to the top of the cold fill line with additional pure undiluted coolant and once everything has settled down you'll be just about right on a 50/50 mix of distilled water and coolant.

If you wish, you could add a cooling system flush chemical in the first drain and fill cycle. But my system appeared quite clean so I didn't do that.

Mark the coolant change in the back of your Ford service record book. Your next coolant change is due in three rather than five years.

This is not a "pure" approach. You'll have some residual old coolant (about 4-5% of the total system capacity). That shouldn't matter though, IMO. What I like about it is that it is simple and I hardly got dirty doing it. And you end up with 95% or more fresh distilled water and new coolant, in the specified 50/50 ratio and you never disconnect any hoses or remove engine block drain plugs. And you can do it yourself for the cost of the coolant (about $48 for me) and 10 gallons of distilled water (another $10 or so) and a couple of gallons of gas while you drive around.

Call your sewer agency about what to do with the old coolant.
You may need to recycle the first couple of drains (about 7 gallons). After that I think down the house sewer (not storm drain) is OK as it will be very diluted at that point. Unless you have a septic system, which I don't know much about.

Older Fords use the old green coolant and need more frequent changes. They might be amenable to a similar procedure but I know nothing about that. You also might be able to upgrade to the Gold HOAT coolant after thoroughly flushing the system.
Again, I don't know.

Those of us who use distilled water with the Gold coolant might also be able to extend future changes to five years instead of three as I believe the specification of three years is due to the risk that tap water will be used when the factory installed coolant is replaced.

Terry

2003 26.5'RB
Gardnerville, NV
Terry
2003 26.5'RB
Gardnerville, NV
Re: Coolant change
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98679
A very informative post. Thanks Terry. I am printing it and filing it.

It must be nice to have the weather to be able to play around with water today. 35 and dropping here with a brisk breeze.

South Florida in a week or less.

Cheers, Don
Don & Dorothy
Sold our LD in June of 2023

Our boring always non-PC travel blog
Traveling Dorothy