I've recommend to every DIY customer I've ever had that before doing an oil change, run the car to temperature, with the heat on!(especially in summer to circulate the heater core fluid) then when draining the oil, open the stopcock at the bottom of the radiator (yes I know it's a pain because it's behind the skid panel in the front) and fill up a small clear cup and look at the coolant if it looks dull or hazy or smells worn then for what ever reason!.Īnd pleasepleasepleaseuse oem or equivalent fluid!!!ĭon't mix colors or grades (if its orange don't use green etc)Īnd just stick to 50/50 coolant because allot of people do not evenly dilute the fluids nor do they use distilled water when diluting fluid. Then your car is most likely a sitting time bomb of repairs. These 3.5l engines have always been bizarre when it comes to different amounts and rate of electrolysis that occurs in the coolant and if you just assume that opening the coolant reservoir at the top and seeing clean green fluid, that your good. remember, the life of a part or fluid is an ideal average. Which means! - some will burn fluids, corrode or wear out parts much sooner or far later than others. The reason these are listed more as inspection and not actual replacements or servicing is because not a single car or engine that comes out of the factory are the same right down to the metal forging the blocks in the engines, that is physically impossible not too mention being exposed to different environments, driving styles and service/part quality available. The actual Ford owner website recommends a more accurate inspection period of the vehicle parts (basically every time you change the oil). The transmission fluid & coolant are both negligently scheduled to be flushed or changed toward the later life of the vehicle which = doom for cars and engines. To prevent premature water pump failure (or any type of part failure) in these cars its not 100% but it will extend the life of the pump dramatically!! All so that new owners are tempted to buy newer, trade sooner and buy often with out much care to properly extending vehicle life. These service intervals are listed with the bare minimum and fewest amount of service periods physically possible to cut down on things that are being counted up by the car market where the vehicle will be stretched thin in advertisement by things like the "5 year maintenance cost" that is used to advertise which cars can save you the most money to maintain. Do not listen to the ridiculous maintenance schedule recommend in owners manual! if you listen to it your car will inevitably fail much sooner than it should.