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I am the second owner of a 2003 F350 7.3 4X4 crew cab bought it back in 08' with 52k on it and now has 170k I have a couple questions please..................
1) Is a coolant filter a real necessity? not that it obviously can't hurt as an upgrade.........
2) If so who makes a good reliable kit?
no - millions of these trucks still running that have never had one. The one thing I would do is a flush with the hose / T thing and follow recommended coolant change procedure with distilled water. If you really want to do a good job, you can reverse flush the heater core for 5 minutes or so - probably shouldn't do that at full pressure though.
I installed a coolant filter out of old habit. I ran one on my 7.3IDI because that's what all the cool kids were doing at the time to keep the SCA charge in the coolant.
I did a flush when I first got my excursion. about 30 gallons of distilled water until it came out clean, installed the dieselsite filter just because, and after about 5 weeks I had to replace the first filter.
The next filter lasted about a year, and the 3rd was good for 3 ish, and the 4th has been on there for around 2 years and still flowing. Whatever initial load of crud came out with the first filter has not been able to reaccumulate.
Does it do anything? More trucks on the road without them than with doing just fine, but I feel better having it.
I have mixed emotions on the coolant filter situation. I have run equipment in the past with coolant filters. Big trucks run coolant filters. They look for a lifespan of a million miles on the engine. Does coolant filtration play a part in that? Don't know. Do know that it is expensive to flush an 8 gallon cooling system, and if a coolant filter can cut down the amount you have to do that, sounds good to me! Is it a necessity if you want to get 500k out of your 7.3? Probably not. Can it make getting there a little less dramatic, probably so. It is pretty much make up your own mind!
I have the International water pump which has the integrated coolant filter. Clean install with a robust and reliable part.
I had a slight amount of debris in the first filter change after the pump install and switching to Rotella ELC, but since the 4th filter came up clean years ago I haven't changed it since.
Worth it? Maybe, but I spend money on stupid crap all the time, at least this one produces results I can see.
If I was going to install a coolant filter, I think the IH water pump is the way I would go. It fulfills several items at once...replacing water pump, coolant filter, thermostat, and replacing lower radiator hose. I also personally like taking OEM parts and making them accomplish a goal they are not OEM for.
