My brother and I have been going back and forth about what he claims is a problem with Ford engines and casting sand left in the block...(he owns a Gubment Motors Gimmy and we always give each other flack about each other's truck).

I have done some searching on the internet and do not find much about this so I thought I would check the FTE forum... He claims that Ford leaves a bunch of casting sand in the block and it flakes off the engine walls and into the oil and coolant and plugs up filters and gums up the whole engine...I say that all that sand would be flushed out and the whole block would be cleaned after all the machining is done for bolt holes, etc before assembly begins; and if it were such an issue, there would be lots more chatter about it than what I could find. Anybody know anything more about this? or is it a myth?

 

Reports of small amounts of sand are the reason why people run coolant filters. Realistically, it would take a huge amount to cause an issue. Sure, it happens.

Personally, I'd rather have the chance for some issues than a guarantee that I won't like my truck.

 

seems like only a little bit of sand would wreak havoc in engines with todays tight tolerances....
on your guarantee...thats what I give him crap about all the time...poor ergonomics, smaller seating and I,d hafta drive a truck that just don,t look near as good!

 

I take my trucks to a fairly well known shop that specializes in Powerstrokes. Some people love the place, others are quick to criticize.

The "boss" has a penchant for utube videos and loves to hawk gizmos, one being the absolute necessity of a coolant filter.

The "manager", the one that oversees all the work and handles all the customers, says that he has never EVER seen sand in a powerstroke engine. He says what you WILL see is this sand-like gritty crap that coolant can turn into in an improperly maintained coolant system.

My thought is that while the block may have been cast in sand, I cannot imagine any of that stuff managing to hang on and hide throughout the initial cleaning process and all the various machining and subsequent cleaning processes before it becomes a finished block.

Just my take.

 

Casting sand was a minute problem with the 6.0's. The 6.4's not so much. But I do believe that silicate develops in the coolant system as the coolant breaks down over time. $100 for a coolant filtration system is cheap assurance.

 

yeah, thats kinda what I was saying...after doing some searchin on the web and reading some forums, most talk about "sand" was the silicates that precipitate out of some coolants, especially seemed to happen if diffedent types were mixed. silicates are sand, technically speaking, but I wonder if those that separate from coolant are from silicone additives put there for lubricating purposes?

 

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Coolant can make a kind of crappy grit if it's degrading.
Any sand in the oil would be filtered out pretty quick.
That being said, most of the bigger trucks of all brands run coolant filters, it's just a good idea if you have the money and want the thing to last.

When I dropped the coolant out of my 7.3 it didn't have anything in it.

When I dropped the coolant out of my 6.4 it didn't have anything in it.

 

If a guy wants the thing to last but does not have the money to go and put a coolant filter in just yet, how long will the coolant last before needing flushed and changed? How often would you change coolant with a filter?
the truck has about 34k miles on it right now...20k of those since May, 2013. Its original owner used it for a Sunday go to meetin and occasional camper hauler truck and did not drive it much.

 

They put a number on it, I think it's 100,000 miles.

In reality, a number is just a number, every truck is going to be different depending on how it's used.
Same with oil changes, a lot of people will do 3000 mile, 5000 mile, etc, but it really is a wild **** guess as to how deteriorated the oil is. Obviously a truck thats empty on the highway will have different oil deterioration than a mall crawler with a tuner.

I think they can test the coolant to tell you it's overall condition.
If you're really worried about debris, I can't see how it could hurt to drain it all, and filter it through a coffee filter or something and put it back in.

 

not terribly worried at this point..It don't do a lot of heavy hauling and I recently took it in to dealership shop for a 30k mile checkup and asked them specifically to check conditon of coolant system and coolant. They gave it the all clear and well. (made sure they checked it off in service records and put their stamp on it too)
I am pretty sure there is no sand in the engine or coolant and my brother can pound sand and "enjoy" driving his Gimmy.

 

I don't know why, but GM's "dex cool" fiasco was never as loud say as something like fords 6.0 diesel trucks, but dex cool has damaged a LOT of vehicles.
It eats away gasket materials, and sludges up real bad. I don't know all the specifics, but from what I understand, it is a pretty bad problem.

My father in law has a chev 4.3 from 2003, not many miles, like 70,000, and it's constantly plugging up radiators, heater cores, etc. He's spend huge money replacing stuff, like thousands by now for sure, and it's only a matter of time until the head gaskets or other gaskets are damaged enough that the whole engine is toast.
I've also seen this on some GM cars.

 

Let me tell you a story on the sand.

Please review my albums on powerstroke . org look up my name as it is the same and you will find some great pictures of the sand... Look for album "Sinister Coolant Filter"

Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

Now here's the best part.

Truck had 22K miles and decided to try the coolant filter thing
So:
1. Installed Sinster diesel coolant filter
2. Drove 200 miles
3. Brought truck into dealership and had coolant ** REPLACED ** not flushed
4. Installed new coolant filter
5 Drove 4K miles in 6 months and replace the filter again
6. Images is what came out of the filter with only 4k miles / 6 months on it
7. Installed a new filter and waiting to hit 8K miles for the next

Same dealership / service manager and diesel meh perform all the maintenance as it's prepaid and the number of new Ford cars and trucks I have bought and will buy I doubt they would do anything wrong to any of my vehicles.

 

My Oil cooler colgged all sudden and yup ..Sand! Little bit rust not much i was like were this come from
?i even have a sMinister coolant filter even though i know its a bypass/\.. But ya No mYth!

 

My flush tool