[jpvolley]

Hey guys, it's me again.
As you all know, it's getting cold out there and when I bought my 2005 Ford Focus this year, I didn't realize there was only water in the cooling system of my car and that's ok for summer, right? But winter is around the corner and I need to switch that water for anti freeze just so I won't break my blocks.
I'd really appreciate if anyone on this chat can tell me how to dump the water out and replace it with the proper anti freeze.

Thanks again.

 

[bluefront]

Well....pure water will obviously work, but it's not really ok. It promotes rust and corrosion throughout the cooling system, and has a lower boiling point than proper coolant. Get some A/F in there.

Mine has a drain plug on the driver side of the lower radiator. I'd recommend draining out all you can, refilling with pure water and a can of coolant cleaner. Run the thing for a while, then drain out what you can, and refill with water. Run that for a while then drain out what you can. Have the heater knob set on high while you do this.

Some water will still remain. You can now`add some pure A/F.....say about 3/4 of a gallon. You'll need to get a coolant checker, with floating balls. The idea is to have a 50/50 mixture, that's good to at least -20F. Keep adding water or A/F while the engine is running till the mixture is correct.

Dealers have a machine that does this whole operation....costs a bunch however.

 

[viney266]

Just drain the water, if its not corroded and brown; no need to do a cleaner flush. Open the drain on a cold radiator and drain all of it out of the rad. Add PURE antifreeze, coolant. Run the car a few days. Pick up a cheap hydrometer, 3-4 bucks at a parts store. Suck up some anti-freeze with it and it will tell you how cold it is good to. If it needs more, just drain out some and add more pure anti-freeze.

I'm not a big flush fan unless you really need it.