Coolant extraction and refill - Is an Airlift 550000 the best way to do this right?

[NGOT8R]

I am trying to wrap up the remaining miscellaneous work on my 2019 Bullitt, so that I can immediately put the car back on the road when my driveshaft arrives.

One of the last few things I have to do is flush out the remaining orange factory coolant and get ready to add new Motorcraft yellow coolant. I lost a lot of the factory coolant when I removed the freeze plugs from the cylinder heads to install my MMR Head Cooling Mod, but still haven’t come close to completely draining the system. I’m looking for the best hassle-free way to do this and ensure there is no air left in the system. I don’t personally know of anyone who has used an Airlift, nor do I know if purchasing one is unnecessary. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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[NGOT8R]

I should also mention that I’ve drained the coolant tank, but haven’t drained the radiator yet. Should I do that and pour distilled water through the system to dilute or wash out all of the factory orange coolant? I know the yellow is supposed to have backwards compatibility with the orange, but if I can get all of the orange out before refilling, I would prefer to do that.

Also, woukd this be a good time to consider adding a 170 t-stat, or should ai stick with the factory t-stat. FYI, there are currently 6400 miles on the engine.

 

[Cordero1]

I don't know what brand I have at home. But when I installed my whipple last time, it's what I used & they work great. Used it to flush everything out & to refill it all back up. No burping or anything required once done.

 

[NGOT8R]

I don't know what brand I have at home. But when I installed my whipple last time, it's what I used & they work great. Used it to flush everything out & to refill it all back up. No burping or anything required once done.

That’s what I was hoping to hear! I have a few more questions for you if you don’t mind.

- Did you drain what you could before drawing a vacuum on the system?

- Did you use distilled water to fill the system (if you drained it first), to help dilute all of the orange coolant?

- Did you stick with the factory thermostat or switch to a 170?

- Any additional fittings needed with the Airlift vacuum system?

- Any additives such as a Purple Ice (equivalent of Water Wetter)?

 

[Cordero1]

Yes I drained what I could 1st. Did add a new 170* thermostat, but no I did not flush out with distilled water since I reused the same coolant type I had removed. Also all fittings needed were included with the kit. I'll take a pic of the tool I used when I get home.

 

[KingKona]

There's no need to vacuum anything out. Just drain as much as will come out, and fill/bleed the system.

 

[NGOT8R]

Yes I drained what I could 1st. Did add a new 170* thermostat, but no I did not flush out with distilled water since I reused the same coolant type I had removed. Also all fittings needed were included with the kit. I'll take a pic of the tool I used when I get home.

Copy that. Thank you!

 

[MiamiGT350]

There's no need to vacuum anything out. Just drain as much as will come out, and fill/bleed the system.

Not sure how much fluid you lost, but the yellow should be compatible with the orange (see attached).

Topping off, Draining and Refilling: • Motorcraft® Yellow Antifreeze/Coolant can be used to top-off or entirely replace (drain and refill) antifreeze/coolant in vehicles factory-filled with Motorcraft® Orange Antifreeze/Coolant and Motorcraft® Specialty Green Engine Coolant.

 

[NGOT8R]

Not sure how much fluid you lost, but the yellow should be compatible with the orange (see attached).

Thank you for that information!

 

[ice445]

If you punched out freeze plugs there's probably not much coolant left in the block, so once you dump the rad and what's behind the thermostat, I wouldn't worry that much about doing a flush. An airlift system works great, it's just expensive. For a low mile engine that is going to be squeaky clean, just let yellow mix with what little tiny amount of orange is left (it will be just fine).

As far as a thermostat replacement, it seems there's some debate on whether the 170 really does anything meaningful without a tune to accommodate it, although I would think you would at least have cooler cruising temps. You'll probably want to replace the stat regardless though, apparently there was an engineering change on the factory part to replace the brass inlet with a plastic one to avoid sticking. At least check which one you have. The factory one is also like 1/3 the cost of the Reische 170, so that's another reason to stick with it, lol.

 

[Cordero1]

I don't know how much prices have gone up, but I don't remember this being pricey at all. It's just a check valve that you use along with your air compressor. Valve one way sucks out from cone in your reservoir, turn the other way & it will put fluid back in. The rubber cone just gets twisted in a bit & it seals & fits to many different size containers.

 

[NGOT8R]

I don't know how much prices have gone up, but I don't remember this being pricey at all. It's just a check valve that you use along with your air compressor. Valve one way sucks out from cone in your reservoir, turn the other way & it will put fluid back in. The rubber cone just gets twisted in a bit & it seals & fits to many different size containers.

Awesome! I ordered one yesterday, along with some coolant, so I hope to have this done within the next week or so.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

I use a system very similar to the Airlift (might even be an Airlift) and it makes draining and refilling the cooling system so easy that I do not know why I did not have one years ago. AND no more running and topping off over and over and wondering if any hotspots are happening while doing so. Many years ago, I serviced the cooling system on my Jeep and when I started it to burp the system everything was just peachy. Then BAM!! the temp gauge went to 240! After I put away all of the bricks that flew out of my backside, I decided that I would never do that again.

Use a system evacuator. They are cheap compared to the problems that could arise.

 

[tosha]

I got this one from mishimoto: Mishimoto Coolant Vacuum Purge and Refill Tool Kit . didn't have a chance to use it yet, as it's too cold to work on a car, but the price seems to be really good.

 

[NGOT8R]

I got this one from mishimoto: Mishimoto Coolant Vacuum Purge and Refill Tool Kit . didn't have a chance to use it yet, as it's too cold to work on a car, but the price seems to be really good.

That one is half the cost of the Airlift and appears to be very similar. I wish I had seen that one first.

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