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That's important info Rusty, thanks. Now I'm second guessing doing it a little because I don't have any problems currently. But I'm not trying to cause any either.
I could have summed up better by saying- this is just my experience with one truck. Any of these kits that connect like this do remove some trash from your system but don't think it's perfectly clean. Does it really matter if there's 2 teaspoons of trash in the system or 3? I've proven to myself that's the situation on my truck. In the end, quality can vary but they all use the same filters and will do a similar job.
In support of using a filter I'd say Getting good flow through the filter is key. Some guys have built their own kits using larger hoses and even drilling out fittings to improve flow and making connections in different areas.
It could also be argued (I now think) that a good flush and regular maintenance could eliminate the need for for the added complications of a filter altogether. In the end though, it's your truck and you should do what makes sense for you.
I've decided to leave mine since its allready there, it looks kinda cool, it's not hurting anything and I recently installed a gauge to monitor coolant pressure so it now has two purposes
P.s. You can see a little bit of that blue tinted clear coat paint on the CAC tube in this pic also. It looks pretty good if you do good prep. There a couple different colors also.
I have a few thought on this. Pretty quickly after getting my truck I realized a coolant filter was a good idea. Like many here I installed a Sinister bypass set up. It was June 2011 @136k miles. Flushed with chemicals and switched from Ford Gold coolant to CAT EC-1 May 2012 @ 144k miles. It had some rust and dark sand in it but no "gooey" stuff. I got steam out of the tail pipe in June 2012 @ just 150mi later. EGR cooler was cracked, replaced it put an oil cooler and some other stuff on it. Went back with the CAT coolant. Changed the coolant filter several times, it did have some sand in it but never was near clogging. Fast foreward to August 2014 @ 163k miles, top radiator tank leaking at the crimp. Replaced it with a new Mishimoto radiator and a new coolant filter. A couple weeks ago @ 177k miles, I smell coolant. It was coming from the top of the engine and I figured the EGR cooler hose had sprung a leak but nope, it was the T fitting for the coolant filter.
After cutting the line and pulling the fitting out I thought is was cracked when I saw this.
Turns out, the thread sealer had failed where the small pipe screws into the larger one. I thought I was going to throw it away but it turns out it's fixable.
Notice these pieces aren't anodized, just painted aluminum. I sorta dressed it up with this stuff. Came out pretty well and I've used it on a couple of other parts also. Looks good if you get a shine on the part before painting.
Back in place and sealed up.
Ok, kinda interesting I guess but what's the point? Every time I have a chance I've suggested using a coolant filter and I still think it's not going to hurt anything but as you can see, it adds parts and potential leaks under your hood. I think the Sinister unit is pretty good quality and I'm not mad about the leak, it's been on there a while. The biggest issue for me was this.
This sand and other crap came out of the radiator drain on a pretty new radiator with a bypass filter on it all this time. That's why I outlined the history above. I suspect the heavy sand isn't getting up to the top of the system to get caught by the filter. I haven't looked at all the options but I now think a filter that connects somewhere low on the engine would be a better option. I'm not against bypass filtration, I think it would work fine if the contaminates could easily find their way to the filter but connecting to the heater hose and degas bottle did not work as well for me as well as I would have liked. Just something to think about.
I agree that adding the filtration introduces more points of failure to contend with. For me, it was a leaky valve. Also agree that the heavier sand probably never makes it up to the filter. I know I got a small amount of sand from my lower radiator hose when I flushed my system the first time. But the filter did do a good job removing some gooey substance. So there is some benefit. Better than not doing it in my opinion.
Great points Rusty and that puts it in a little more perspective. So with that said, would using something different like the IPR kit be in a different category since it uses a different filter? Would that be worth trying? It's over $100 more than most other brands being referenced in this thread. They are the only brand that I've seen saying it could be used as a full flow filter.
Maybe Sinister changed their Tee fitting, but maybe not. All I know is the XDP kit is one solid piece of machined aluminum that has a black anodized finish on it, and you don't need to cut your heater line as they include a small section of blue silicone hose you stick on one side of the Tee.
You could literally take the XDP system off your truck and sell it or keep it, because none of the factory lines are affected by the installation... (you do need to keep the radiator to degas line, which XDP includes a replacement for).
And as far as the casting sand: What are our water pump impellers made of?? Sand cant be good for a plastic (ok, nylon, whatever) impeller or its seals...
Any coolant filter is better than none, but like Rusty said: one more thing to maybe worry about? I think it is worth the worry, but that is my opinion...
So the Mishimoto kit has NO fittings? It is just a formed piece of polymer tubing?
Yep. Each side is just 1 formed silicone hose and there is one solid connector on the heater hose side to connect the existing hose to the new T hose. So it only adds 1 fitting to your system. Besides the 2 at the filter housing obviously.
I've got the IPR filter with the manifold bypass, and yes, it's more expensive but I think it's worth it. I've had to drain a couple of times for maintenance (hoses), but I don't get sand out of the radiator anymore. I do still get a lot of crap out of the filter though. The only thing I don't like about it is that you have to watch your temps, and clean it when it plugs. I've been seriously considering putting a bypass valve on it using the side port so I can bypass it when it plugs and I don't have time to clean it (like on a trip).
I've got the IPR filter with the manifold bypass, and yes, it's more expensive but I think it's worth it. I've had to drain a couple of times for maintenance (hoses), but I don't get sand out of the radiator anymore. I do still get a lot of crap out of the filter though. The only thing I don't like about it is that you have to watch your temps, and clean it when it plugs. I've been seriously considering putting a bypass valve on it using the side port so I can bypass it when it plugs and I don't have time to clean it (like on a trip).
And the filter on it is proprietary right or just different than other filtration kits? Or is it re-usable?
Edit: Looks like the filter isn't re-usable. Do you have to get filters from IPR?
The filters are re-usable (and only available from them). I usually flush mine out with a sprayer on a hose. If it's really nasty and clogged, a brass brush. I've had mine on for 2 1/2 years now and never replaced it.
I've has coolant filters on both my 7.3 and 6.0. The setups are in my Facebook photo albums.
The 7.3 was a better situation as Int provided a port right off the water pump so I always felt it was more complete, but it was still a bypass. Actually on the the 6.0 we are doing a bypass on a bypass circuit, the heater. So as Rusty pointed out, we can only filter a small percentage of the flow at any given time, with the hopes that the debris that are moving in the fluid flow will be trapped in the fine filtration before they get caught elsewhere or settle.
I don't think there is any good way to provide full filtration as we would like to, all one has to do is watch SRMasterTech's video on flushing to see the volume of coolant that is moved at higher rpm when he gooses the throttle with the block plugs open.
Actually years ago after watching that video I started to think about incorporating a twin filter setup, and rather then using the heater circuit to utilize both of the block drain ports to filters on each frame rail then back to the Degas bottle. I backed away when I started to get concerned about diverting too much coolant that might cause head coolant issues, considering we already have problematic head gasket issues. That maybe overthinking the issue but I had just bought a $16k replacement motor so playing test subject was not in the cards. The coolant filters have a small orifice that limits the amount of coolant going through. Any concern about rubber hoses being damaged in that lower vulnerable area could be addressed with braided stainless-Teflon hoses.
Back years ago when I was studying the oil cooler clogging issue (also in the FB photos albums) I cut apart several oil coolers that people sent me. I saw a minor amount of granular debris in the coolers, it was always the gelatinous silicate that congealed in the pathways that caused the real issue. I will be doing a my oil cooler again soon after 75k as the delta is getting to a concerning point, and this is after using a replacement motor with Rotella ELC, so it will be interesting to see what is in there. But if it is just granular contamination it might be easier to back flush out then to dissolve any gelatinous materials in the pathways.
Thanks for the technical aspect. I looked at the pictures of the deposits and the oil coolers, althought I don't know much about what I'm looking at. With that being said, I guess the coolant filter would be better at catching the gelatinous substance since it would probably be less dense than the sand material?
Well I bought the Mishimoto kit awhile back and installed it today. I'm having trouble getting the inlet valve fitting sealed in the manifold. I've tried tightening it but I'll probably have to take it off and try again. Any suggestions?
Well I bought the Mishimoto kit awhile back and installed it today. I'm having trouble getting the inlet valve fitting sealed in the manifold. I've tried tightening it but I'll probably have to take it off and try again. Any suggestions?
Have you tried a silicone or a gasket maker or thread tape?
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