All credit for this goes to fellow member Onion. After reading his thread I had to do my own.
I checked my coolant line from bypass to degas bottle and it was 3/8". So I went on a search for a 3/8" inline fuel filter. Based on Onion recomendation I got one with a metal case. After tax it was 2.99, I bought another one at a different store for its replacement and that was 3.04 after tax. I got them at Checker Auto Parts, the 33033 number is a wix number.
I also spent $15.99 plus tax for this tool so I could cleanly cut open the filters. I got this tip from another member in the oil filter forum.
The test vehicle is a 2004 Ford Freestar with 110k, I bought it at 98k so most of its life is a mystery to me. I used the original hose that goes from the bypass to the degas bottle. I clamped one end of the filter to the hose and used some 3/8" fuel line I had in the garage to finish the connection back to the degas bottle. I wire tied the hoses to the pvc valve hose and the ac line for added support. Wanted to make sure after the hoses got hot they would not droop down into the belt drive.
Now, a tip. When cutting open the filter. Cut the outlet side off. As the element is glued to this end. Not knowing any better I cut it at the center and had to rip the element out with grip lock pliers. The metal case on this filter was tuff and the element held up perfectly. The blob on the end is extra adhesive from the manufacturing process.
The filter was in service for 124 miles. I blew through it, to test for restriction, before cutting open. It was restricted but not to the point to hinder flow, so it did trap a lot of particles in the element that aren't visible. By the way don't try this, it looked dry to me but antifreeze is very nasty tasting. The only visible debris in the pleats was sand. I read somewhere that the manufactures can't remove 100% of the casting sand, so a small portion ends up in the cooling system. And this proves it. The pic is not the best, but you can see some of the sand in the pleats, there is more there then can be seen in the pic.
I will run the next one for at least 300 miles before I update. I am confident my cooling system is clean as no sludge showed up in the filter. However, I think I will keep running these until I can get one with no visible debris in the pleats. Next stop is to Napa to see if they have a Wix 33033 to use as my third run on one of these.
I checked my coolant line from bypass to degas bottle and it was 3/8". So I went on a search for a 3/8" inline fuel filter. Based on Onion recomendation I got one with a metal case. After tax it was 2.99, I bought another one at a different store for its replacement and that was 3.04 after tax. I got them at Checker Auto Parts, the 33033 number is a wix number.
I also spent $15.99 plus tax for this tool so I could cleanly cut open the filters. I got this tip from another member in the oil filter forum.
The test vehicle is a 2004 Ford Freestar with 110k, I bought it at 98k so most of its life is a mystery to me. I used the original hose that goes from the bypass to the degas bottle. I clamped one end of the filter to the hose and used some 3/8" fuel line I had in the garage to finish the connection back to the degas bottle. I wire tied the hoses to the pvc valve hose and the ac line for added support. Wanted to make sure after the hoses got hot they would not droop down into the belt drive.
Now, a tip. When cutting open the filter. Cut the outlet side off. As the element is glued to this end. Not knowing any better I cut it at the center and had to rip the element out with grip lock pliers. The metal case on this filter was tuff and the element held up perfectly. The blob on the end is extra adhesive from the manufacturing process.
The filter was in service for 124 miles. I blew through it, to test for restriction, before cutting open. It was restricted but not to the point to hinder flow, so it did trap a lot of particles in the element that aren't visible. By the way don't try this, it looked dry to me but antifreeze is very nasty tasting. The only visible debris in the pleats was sand. I read somewhere that the manufactures can't remove 100% of the casting sand, so a small portion ends up in the cooling system. And this proves it. The pic is not the best, but you can see some of the sand in the pleats, there is more there then can be seen in the pic.
I will run the next one for at least 300 miles before I update. I am confident my cooling system is clean as no sludge showed up in the filter. However, I think I will keep running these until I can get one with no visible debris in the pleats. Next stop is to Napa to see if they have a Wix 33033 to use as my third run on one of these.