Would a coolant filter make a difference to a UCA?

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Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Anyone have pictures or a link to a good home made inline coolant filter? Thanks!


I was looking at some on ebay and they're expensive. Around $60 with shipping. I would think a short section of 2" pvc and some screen would make a cheapie. splice it right into either the upper or lower hose securing the excess screen material between the hose and pvc.

I might need to do this as I mixed two different types of head gasket fix and it has created some hardened trash in the rad.
 
That's a good idea turtle. I was concerned with casting sand problems with my 14 Rubicon. I flushed it ASAP after I took it home, strained the coolant, and put it back in. I was thinking about a filter myself, checked out ebay and amazon and thought the prices were steep for what they were giving you.
 
My Taurus had debris floating in the system even after recent flushes so I put a decent sized metal fuel filter on the pressurized overflow tank right before the coolant dumps into the tank with the supplied small rubber house and clamps and now already the floating debris is all gone after very few miles on it but all the sediment is still sitting in the bottom of the tank.

I have went WOT many times and the filter seems fine still. I'd like to open this suckers sometime but it's going to stay for now.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
My Taurus had debris floating in the system even after recent flushes so I put a decent sized metal fuel filter on the pressurized overflow tank right before the coolant dumps into the tank with the supplied small rubber house and clamps and now already the floating debris is all gone after very few miles on it but all the sediment is still sitting in the bottom of the tank.

I have went WOT many times and the filter seems fine still. I'd like to open this suckers sometime but it's going to stay for now.


This thread has peaked my interest for a while now. What would you use for a filter if you didn't have a pressurized overflow tank and wanted to cut into a heater hose for example? I saw inline filters but the cost seemed very high for what they were offering? I saw garden hose strainers that looked like they'd plug up in no time flat. Thanks
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
You could do the same thing i did, which is a fuel filter with a paper element. They aren't made for coolant but work okay. Some people use the clear plastic ones, but you have to watch them carefully as the plastic will warp in short order but you can see the contamination build up more easily and no real need to cut them open.


http://contentinfo.autozone.com/znetcs/product-info/en/US/frc/G3850/image/3/


Maybe this

https://mercedessource.com/store/cleanab...6-hose-fittings


Thanks- I thought about an inline fuel filter. The problem is plumbing in a 5/16" filter to a 5/8", or 3/4" heater hose, even if it could be done there'd be problems associated with it. At least I think, honestly I've never done it. The pressurized recovery tank is ideal for one of the filters you mentioned. They had a coolant filter on Ebay that was a ridiculous price and the reason for my question.
 
Here are some pictures of my setup. You can see the sediment sitting in the tank even though i replaced the coolant tank when i flushed the system.

Current fill is Prestone All Makes all Models but probably leftover silicate from the old coolant since it is all plugged up in the heater core.

The coolant is low since the engine has been sitting for a few days but you can see the coolant itself is crystal clear and the sediment is non moving in the bottom of the tank. The fuel filter has only been on the cooling system for less than 200 miles and achieved this. Before it was floating all in the top system. Too bad i dont't have before pix.


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Thanks for the pics. My problem is I don't have a pressurized recovery system, and would have to cut into a 5/8" heater hose. I saw a filter they make for doing just that but I'm having a problem wrapping my head around the price of it.
 
The earlier link was just showing an example. I think my actual filter is a Fram G15. It might not be the best filter for my application, it's just the only metal one I found with a paper element that has 3/8 barbs. I found similar ones but this was the biggest filter I found locally. I actually found this one at tractor supply because Autozone didn't seem to have this in Stock.

I am hoping it will weaken enough from the extra heat cycles that I can crack the seal with a mallet. I have seen people use the clear plastic filters with similar sized barbs but they will expand more than the metal and eventually leak. Probably a great choice for short term solid contamination removal that you can see without cutting open.

I very rarely drive my Taurus so it might be on the vehicle awhile.
 
Why a coolant filter is important ? Rofl go see any big truck,i mean any!they ALL HAVE filter.why because the heat and cold cycle create debry (yes even with truck liquid)its slower but on the million mile cycle it is quick.so to prevent particulate in the coolant to shew the engine (_like when you use a grinder)we put filter also said filter also is the excuse to have extender in said filter to prolong the life of the liquid (_wich these days is about 300k
 
Less than 100 miles over two weeks of short trips ruined the plastic filter. It was fine until I did some full throttle runs to see if it would implode, it did get very wavy at full load and shortly after the next day the element came loose.

In this short time it loaded the filter good. I might do it again for the quick cleanup.

First picture is the day of the install, rest are of the removal after failure.

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No leaks or anything but the filter element came loose and stopped filtering. Maybe it reached its holding capacity but I want to try it again without abusing the throttle and see how long it lasts. Also there's less contamination now that I've run two filters through it.
 
Wow! After seeing pictures like that I'm shocked, its as bad as mine was when I first got it. I'm going on about 7 or 8000 miles on the current coolant and its still crystal clear and blue, but after being reminded of the horrors I found i'm definitely getting a filter plumbed in. Thanks to everyone involved in this thread, its been super-helpful to me
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Originally Posted By: cheesepuffs
Why bother? 99.99% of all cars on the road don't have a coolant filter. No OEM finds them necessary so why should you?


Because I can.
 
I ll take big truck for exemple .at one point engine faillure was bad,coolant would eat the cylinder liner and the block .they added filter.it didnt fix the problem ,later it was found that the culprit was silicate in coolant .even tho the trouble waz found coolant filter were so inexpensive that they were kept,why?on paper coolant call for distilled water now a day !since maker were afraid people would use plain tap water and basicly bring the trouble back they kept the filter ,most use premix now a day but some old school trucker mix their own so potential for problem is there .but if you use a premixed coolant and flush properly prior to new liquid?bof i doubt you will ever see the need for a coolant filter.probably better to put an engine oil cooler. 15 psi inside the coolant so make sure what you put can accept that
 
Biggest reason for a coolant filter was in the early days of SCAs, namely SCA-2, combined with old school high silicate green coolant, would drop silica out of the coolant & start filling up the cooling system with sand. The '89 IDI 7.3 in my sig had no coolant filter (nor any SCAs) when I bought it, and my first coolant filter I installed (with new coolant) picked up a decent amount of silica drop-out, the 2nd one looked a lot better. I could run G-05, or even an ELC, but my old engine's gaskets weren't designed for them, & a cheap coolant filter change with 2 units of SCA-2 once a year is keeping things looking good.
 
Why do I run a coolant filter? I bought my car with 134k miles on it. I have no idea what was the service history of it, but I could see rust, scale, and even stop-leak flakes in the coolant.

God only knows what's been done to it. So do I sit around and wait for trash to fall off and plug my system, kill my water pump, plug my heater core, or do I do something about it?

Here's a coolant filter from a vehicle that the OEM never spec'd one for:

coolelement.jpg


And another:

coolelement2.jpg


Obviously coolant filters do something.

Benefits? If there's any crud in your system, its getting caught.

Drawbacks? Few ounces more coolant you have to use?

Granted, I've torn down plenty of engines where the original coolant left the engine mirror spotless after 150k+ miles in service, but then there's this GM 502 crate engine with 15k miles on it, that I had to use a sledgehammer and screwdriver AFTER removing the block plugs to get anything to come out. Nice when your $13k engine accidentally becomes a pseudo half-fill of hard-block.

Should you soil your drawers and bite your nails until you have a coolant filter? No.

But if you do decide to add one, you are not making a mistake.
 
I will second the idea that a coolant filter is a good idea. I installed three of them on British sports cars over the years and was awestruck by how much they caught. That much debris floating around in the system cannot be good. The issue with modern cars is finding a place to put the filter. You want to plumb the filter into a bypass mode across the heater core with a 1/8 inch restriction hole in the exit line. IMHO this website is dedicated to the idea that oils determine the life of the engine, but shop experience proves that cars come in "on the hook" due to cooling issues. Keep your cooling system in A1 condition, THEN worry about your oil.
If you can find a convenient way to plumb a cooling filter into your car then do it. Go ahead and lead the pack. If you can't find a place to mount the filter then just keep the fluid fresh like you are doing.
 
I've never done a UCA, but have installed a coolant filter on my Ford F350 with the Powerstroke engine. I've done this for longevity of the oil cooler, which over time gets plugged with debris. It saves me money and the time to take the cooler off and exchange it with a new one. Here's a picture of the filter which is a Wix 24070. Supply is from the heater inlet and returned to the degas bottle:

 
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