Anyone know if these inline coolant filters are of a high flow nature to work with a high flow setup?

I currently have a GMP Aluminum HD High Flow water pump, a Robert Shaw High flow 195* thermostat, and a Cold Case aluminum 2 core high flow radiator. Im looking at possibly adding a inline coolant filter in the 1 1/2" upper radiator hose but cant find anything online on if these filters alone create a restriction that could hinder a high flow setup such as mine.

 

I wouldn't bother myself. A flush and refill once in a while is good.

 

I do a flush/refill of the cooling system every 2nd oil change, that equates to between 2 and 2 1/2 years between flushes. I dont run long life, just conventional green but with my new engine build I am doing for my truck with the aluminum heads, intake, water pump and radiator I am leaning towards running the global gold instead which is more forgiving with aluminum than conventional green is.

Only reasion I am looking at the filter was for the heater core as I replaced it about 2 years before I parked the truck and I dont think I can back flush all of what could possibly be in the heater core and I dont want to pull the box off the fire wall to change the heater core out again. My plan was to back flush radiator and install a inline filter post heater core before the water pump to catch anything the heater core spits out to keep it out of the engine. But then I started thinking about the coolant passages in the block as well, I really dont want to flush like I normally do with the upper radiator hose off and a water hose in the radiator since the engine will be put through its break in period. It seemed like a good idea to keep any trash out of the expensive radiator till I do the first flush and clean a couple years from now.

 

I have an aluminum water pump and radiator and I still run regular old Prestone. No problem.

 

If this were me I'd monitor the coolant's pH level from time-to-time, preferably after running the vehicle 100 miles or so on a short jaunt.

 

Here are my thoughts...

Both Gano and Tefba filters are very effective....

We know from test conducted by Prestone, conventional coolant has a life of 13 + years (at that mark they stopped the test) and it's contaminants that kill the coolant and damage components. With that said, here's the possible issue I have with inline filters. As they collect contaminants, they slowly restrict the flow and there have been a couple of instances where these restrictions have caused severe overheating (yes caused by owner failure to clean the filter).

IMHO,

1. Nothing substitutes a periodic flush of the radiator

2. When I drain the coolant, I place a doubled up paper towel over the funnel which filters to less than 3 microns (much better then any of the inline filters)- in terms of contaminants, the coolant is now as clean as when it came out of the original bottle. Provided it meets all the other test I do, it is reinstalled in the vehicle.

3. I have installed a magnesium anode in all overflows (same electrolysis protection used per code for all underground tanks)- Zinc anodes are available as well (JC Whitney, etc.) specifically for automotive applications and sell for about $20- they attract all the nasty stuff that destroys radiators, pumps, hoses etc and they become the sacrificial lamb- and keeps the ph of the fluid neutral. The inside of my cooling system and related components is spotless- literally!

4. I check the ph (using a swimming pool kit) - and check the alcohol content using a conventional coolant bulb type test device ($20 at any parts store)

the results.....

1. Contaminant production is eliminated by 90%+ as a result of the neutral ph maintenance

2. Contaminants that are produced are contained outside of the system flow, in the overflow at the anode. At this point I have less contaminant in my system than if I used an inline filter because we have eliminated 90% of the production and contained the residual.

3. With the paper towel, I can actually see the residual system contaminants (which you can typically count) and by most accounts visually know if a potential problem exists by the type and color of the products. The coolant is as clean as if I had opened a fresh container.

4. The system is clean and performance level known.

My personal results...

My father (an ol salt flats racer & aerospace engineer) starting this in the 1950's and typically the conventional coolant lasts 10-20 years in the vehicle before requiring replacement.Prestone did a test for longitivity on coolant long before the extended requirement came to be.....at 13 years they stopped the test because there was no degradation.

I cannot remember repairing a radiator or heat exchanger or water pump during my 50+ years on this earth on any of my family's vehicles due to corrosion- (I replaced 2 water pumps on my 1990 F150 when due to a pulley tension/alignment problem it ate two bearings/seals, my fault as I didn't check it the 1st time, but at 80,000 miles I was not too surprised to see a leak from the water pump bearing and about 8 years ago on my wifes Cougar).
We typically keep our vehicles for 10+ years. Our list of vehicles includes...

1959 221 CID V8 Ranchero (1965 to 1971)
1932 Flathead V8 Ford Coupe (1960 to present)
1965 Mustang (1965 to present)
1969 F100 (1972 to 1984)
1984 F150 (1984 to 2006) (400K+ miles w2 rebuilds)
1979 Honda (1982 to 1990)
1987 Toyota Celica GT (1987 to 1997)
1990 F150 (1990 to 2006)
1997 Cougar Sport (1990 to present)
2006 Mark LT (2006 to present)
2006 F150 4x4 (2006 to present)

IMHO, basic chemistry makes “gadgets” like inline filters just that, “gadgets”!

 

I have ran old Prestone conventional green and made the switch to Peak Conventional Green till they quit producing conventional green and went with the global gold which looks like a watered down Conventional Green. Since then I have been running Zerex Conventional Green, its made by Valvoline and I bought a case of 6 gallons 50/50 for $72. Normally I buy concentrate and mix my own but I bought the 50/50 for my tractors and I dont have a water source on my ground yet so it was just easier to stash what I have there and just pour it straight in when needed. I know Prestone still makes Conventional Green but I dont know if I want to switch back to Prestone. I know it never gave me any trouble, and I havent been using Zerex long enough to know if it could pose a trouble. I could throw regular conventional green in, I just have been thinking around on this, at work we throw global or dexcool in anything with a bunch of aluminum in it. Even when we do late model engine swaps we use either global gold or long life red which is basically dexcool. I wouldnt use dexcool just for the simple fact you cant mix it. Conventional Green and Global Gold you can mix without adverse effects.

I could do that, I just dont know if I would ever notice a pH change considering I normally flush my cooling system every 2 oil changes which is about every 2 to 2 1/2 years.

I probably over flush my cooling systems, I do it every 2 oil changes which is about every 2 to 2 1/2 years. When I do the flush, I pull the upper radiator hose off lay it to the side place a water hose in the radiator turn it on and run the engine till the water coming out of the upper radiator hose is crystal clear. I then drain the system and get as much water as I can out then add fresh coolant. That however is with me mixing my own coolant in a 25/75 coolant/water ratio as we don't have strong winters here and 25% coolant is well over enough. I do plan on running 50/50 with this new build as I am going back to a 195* thermostat over the 180* I have been running. I don't know how ever if I want to flush my system the same way with the water hose seeing as back then I used to use the same water to mix my coolant but if I buy the premix 50/50 they don't use regular tap water and me flushing that way would introduce contaminates into the system.

If I go to the trouble of draining/flushing my cooling system I toss the coolant and don't even bother trying to reuse it. The filter for me isnt because I reuse coolant but because I know my heater core most likely has trash in it with the old cooling system that will be replaced with all fresh. I know no amount of flushing will get 100% of the trash out of the heater core, I hate the thought of that trash finding its way into the rest of my system. I guess I could use some radiator flush I have and use some hoses and fill the heater core with it then try to blow it out and let it ride.

I thought about doing a zinc anode just wasnt sure which one to get. Lots of the radiators we install in late model swaps have a threaded in anode that also doubles as a grounding strap to hook a ground wire to. The Cold Case radiator I will be running doesnt have this, I do know i could remove the drain and buy a zinc anode that threads in place of the drain but I dont like the idea of not having a functional drain. I also know they make the one on the chain that is held to a ring that sits in the filler neck, I never liked how that looked, was always afraid something like that would break and drop inside the radiator.

I have the coolant tester for testing boil/freeze protection, I do that from time to time as well just to make sure I am not falling below my 25/75 mix ratio. With premix 50/50 I probably would still do the same thing just to make sure it is remaining within range. Never done a pH test on the coolant however, I do know I had to replace my aluminum timing cover because it was all eaten up in the coolant passages. I don't know if it was from the previous owner who abused the truck to the point that when we got the truck the engine had to be scrapped because they destroyed the block to the point that it wasn't rebuildable. I don't think that damage was caused by me but anything is possible, since I have a new aluminum timing cover from Ford, on top of aluminum heads, aluminum intake, aluminum water pump (always got the cheaper cast iron pumps but got the correct aluminum one for my truck this time) and the aluminum radiator I think I want to be a bit more cautious to avoid issues like that with my engine/cooling system. I have too much money in this engine build to not try and prevent undue aluminum corrosion.