Radiator flush and fill on 3.8L

Does anybody have some tricks to make this easy. I just did mine and its a pain trying to get the air out of the system. Also I found out not to use anything but Motorcraft parts for this motor. Seems knock off brands don't really last. Thremostat was replaced 3 months ago and failed open and the bad part was i payed 14 bucks for this one when I got a Motorcraft for 12 bucks tonite.

Thanks James

I just replaced the thermostat in my 2000 Windstar LX 3.8 yesterday.

Hmmm - I hope my (aftermarket) thermostat hangs on. The OEM thermostat was occasionally sticking open.

Yes, it took me awhile to get rid of the air in the system. I drove up and down the hilliest local roads I could find. I stopped at the side of the road to top off the system several times. Eventually, both front and rear heaters blew hot, though I suspect I'll have to add some more coolant mix in coming days.

Did either of you try the Ford steps for bleeding air out of the system, worked well for me last time.

Steps for Filling - Bleeding

1 - During the initial fill, fill the degas bottle to the top of the cold fill range.
2 - Move the temperature blend selector to the full warm position and the fan motor control to MAX for the front and rear unit, if equipped.
3 - Start the vehicle with the degas bottle cap off and allow to idle until the thermostat is open.
4 - Top off the coolant in the degas bottle to the top of the cold fill range, install and tighten the degas bottle cap.
5 - Increase the engine rpms to 3000 for 15 seconds, and then return to idle for one minute.
6 - Repeat the previous step four times or until heat is coming from the rear unit while the vehicle is idling.
7 - Allow the vehicle to cool and top off the coolant in the degas bottle to the cold fill range.

I filled the system and allowed the van to run for quite some time (with both temp selectors set max temp), while cleaning up the shop (probably about 20 minutes). I topped of the reservoir several times - but both heaters still ran cold.

I didn't start getting consistent heat until I drove up and down some hills...

I never had an issue with bleeding the air out. I just unhooked the bottom hose drained the old stuff out filled with water ran for a few minutes pulled the bottom hose off repeated a few times and filled with 50 50 mix seeing that I have no cap to radiator I just added a little water and put 100% coolant/antifreeze to the coolant tank, the 50 50 may be a little off..ran the motor with cap off for a few minutes and added coolant until full line was reached. after it reached operation temp I waited until cool enough to open cap and added a tiny bit more.. Never had a problem..I may have did it wrong, but it worked for me. hope this helps..

You didn't see the problem because you only drained the coolant from the engine - both of your heater cores (presuming you have rear heat) aren't drained through the engine hoses.

I removed one of the hoses in the back, as well as the heater supply hose (immediately behind the thermostat housing; it uses a plastic snap attachment). This meant there was a lot of air in the lines after filling the system. It can take some effort to work the trapped air out of the system.