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A little back ground and a boring story to go with it to the why I want one.
A week ago I replaced the radiator on the wife's Excursion with a dual core (6.8-7.3 rad) due to the OEM one cracking on the upper radiator hose conector, the reason it cracked was that the coolant was getting pressurized to the point that the heater hose and upper hose popped off. I did a flush, install a new thermostat (the oem one did not open when I tested in a pot of boiling water) so I thought my problem was fixed WRONG!!! the upper hose was brick hard but never once did the truck over heat ??? Bought a test kit to see if I had any Hydro Carbons in my coolant system to a no go. So I was lost at this point so I decided to do a compression test to my surprise compression was 180psi in each cylinder with a 2% between them, so I ruled out head gasket but not a cracked head, I was frustrated but never once came to my mind the radiator could cause this kinds of pressure, I popped the hood open again top hose was rock hard but this time I got on my back and went under the truck to check the bottom hose, OH MY GOD!! the hose was soft and cold , decided to touch the radiator and sure enough the top half of the rad was hot to the touch while the bottom was cold (this was after a 100 mile drive when I started smelling coolant and saw the rad cracked on the upper hose inlet) I condemned the rad went to Autozone and bought a new one, and problem solved.
Well after that story hopefully you guys are still following lol....
My plans are to install a filtration system on my wife's X because I don't want this happening again ( we bought the X with 100K with unknown maintance history) when I bought it I replace every single fluid including the coolant system doing a flush with distilled water etc...
Has anybody install a filtration system on a on a Gasser excursion? (I have build my own on coolant filtration system on my 7.3 and some on the work trucks)
Is it even possible?
If so
Where would I plumb the coolant lines?
Any input would be great thanks.
PS here's some pics of one that I build a couple of months ago for my work truck.
Also, do the gas powered rigs have the same water pump setup? The 7.3 coolant bypass setups utilize ports in the water pump for plumbing the lines to the filter, then to the degas reservoir.
No unfortunately not, the water pumps are different, and that's where my challenge begins as to where to plumb it. The 6.8 and 5.4 are the same so is there any hight coolant passage on the block I can bypass?
No, it's not formulated with gassers in mind and it has more of one thing, and not enough of another (real precise, right? Sorry, can't remember exactly what it was at present time) in the coolant and it's not recommended for use in gas powered vehicles.
I'll try and find the blurb with the info. I should probably add that to my Gooch coolant thread too.
I would install it in the heater core lines as suggested above. It's about your only choice. Never install a coolant filter in a primary coolant line. If it stops up you're gonna have problems. They are designed to go into a secondary coolant line so if they become blocked or restricted it will not hinder the flow of coolant in the system or possibly blow out the water pump seal.
I would also suggest making sure that you are using unloaded filters. No DCA/SCA in a gasoline cooling system.
Sorry, I don't know much about the quirks and tricks for gassers in these beasts.
If you add a filter to a main line, as FxF said, you have to be careful of restrictions. Take a look at the oil bypass filters. They use a smaller line from a separate circuit, or a reducing tee to allow 80-90% main flow, but trickle off a very small flow through a filter.
Many standard oil filters have a bypass valve internally that bypass the filter media if it is plugged (think "pressure relief valve"). Maybe a coolant filter has the same?
The 6.0 has popular ready-made setups that use a filter head and spin on filters.
But I don't know if they would fit, work, or even be a good idea on the gasser
"Most" of the Diesel Coolant Filter systems are Tee-d in to an existing coolant line - therefore they are parallel to the existing flow.
Thus, other than leaking, they introduce NO risk of being clogged.
In fact, my Diesel-Site coolant filter has "shutoff valves" on the in/outlets to minimize the coolant loss when changing the filter.
"Most" of the Diesel Coolant Filter systems are Tee-d in to an existing coolant line - therefore they are parallel to the existing flow.
Thus, other than leaking, they introduce NO risk of being clogged.
In fact, my Diesel-Site coolant filter has "shutoff valves" on the in/outlets to minimize the coolant loss when changing the filter.
Thank you for posting this. I believed that was the case, but didn't want to say for sure unless I knew for sure
On our 7.3 there's a NPT plug on our water pumps where we tap for the cooling filtration system, but on a Gasser? I don't know the anatomy of the 5.4/6.8 blocks but isn't there a drain plug on the block like in the 7.3's? I know that on some 6.8 and 5.4's there's an npt plug in the on the coolant cross over but unfortunately mine has only 1 for the CTS I've seen one of the 5.4(03 iirc) that has an extra opening that's not used, that would be the perfect place to tap into. I wonder if I buy a tap and tap into it?
