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Coolant Filter - Who's running them?

Coolant filters are not actual filters. Coolant filter housing holds a tablet inside like a swimming pool floater that holds the chlorine tablet. The purpose of them is for semi trucks that will drive 100,000 miles and not get the coolant tested for consumed minerals.

Do a little research on the lawsuits of different coolants like GM’s craptastic dexcool where too many silicates come out of suspension and plug the cooling system.

Don’t just go adding chemicals to your coolant system because you read somewhere it’s a nifty idea in the big trucks do it. Buy the test strips And determine if adding those chemicals will help you or hurt you. Then adjust accordingly.
 
Yes actual filtering units are being made now.

But they make it sound like cleaning filters have been in use in semi trucks for 50 years. Nope I installed hundreds. Stop in a semi truck parts house and get one and give a little shake. You’ll hear/feel the rattle of it inside.
Then that idea lead to this. These are called filters because they mount and look like an oil filter. They were filter nothing.

Maybe not a horrible idea- but on the actual filters - all i seen are bypassing units and about 25% have issues.
But new engine- flush the heck out of it then fill and run it. Any sand or flashing will be gone then what debris needs to come out? Anything beyond that and you are picking up cavitation debris - and just like engine oil, if you dont catch it all, the amount that is looping around waiting for its turn to get filter is hitting the pump seal and getting trapped in the dead flow areas of radiator and block.

Running all the media filters is because of the problems with long life coolant. Then it also becomes a good place to add chemicals in.

Sorry I am old school and think just run it 30-50 k miles and flush to eliminate debris and get new happy juice. If pinching pennies and pushed to 50k miles and you run the truck to 500,000 miles you still only did it 9 times and sell it at 500 k ready to be done by next owner or junkyard.

Actually filtering the system sounded great to me at first. But after seeing people have issues- any damage done by choking flow, popped off hose and over temp from coolant loss- nah. Everything is risk vs reward and I don’t see the big push.
Most guys doing it and swearing by it are guys that never learned that long life coolant is a fiasco in diesels.

2 really good friends of mine are the highest ranked diesel mechanics (they have actual annual nation wide competitions) for republic services. They have proven hands down even in semi trucks that long term cost is best to run old school green and flush it. Iirc he said they track nitrate (and other sca) levels and add as needed in liquid form unless just nitrate then it gets a tablet filter.

Remember a bypassing actual filter stops a tiny percentage of what is circulating around but a flush will remove it all. This isn’t fuel where new contaminated fuel goes in every week or engine oil where burned fuel gets into the oil as it bypasses the rings.

Flush and fill then it is sealed perfectly. So after the first flush to arguably clean flashing and sand from manufacturing- what gets in there? Only the long life coolant that is breaking down. So now instead of servicing the coolant system the more effective way you can just service the coolant system this way.

We tried this with 6.5s. Remember dexcool came out in mid 90’s when I was running the massive 6.5 fleet. People talk about the first lawsuit but MY records were in that lawsuit.
We tried it before GM came to us with options of filtering. It’s a cluster that had and still has one solution. Remember that gm only created that crap because they post patent and wanted longer term profit margins by selling gm liquids because people think “they made the engine so what they say is best”. Dump that garbage, flush well, repeat.

My 2c. I have no money to make. When listening to someone selling something, think: do they have a bias?

Want it actually clean- drain and high pressure filter 100% of it then pour back in. Would take a couple hours once a year and do far better filtering through a 3 micron fuel filter.
 
I run one, but it is in a completely different engine known for leftover sand from the casting which works lose over time. It is just a plane filter (no additive tablets / membranes) which works in the same manner as a stand-alone bypass filter as Will described.

Have not seen any real need for a coolant filter in the 6.5.

Agree with Will about best practice of making sure the coolant itself remains healthy. I just had to replace an engine as I am convinced that the POs neglected coolant changes as there were a bunch of signs of damage from electrolysis. A non-repairable hairline fissure in the block was the last clue of electrolysis.
 
I went and deleted the pics of the old radiator I had removed from My truck. I had removed the tanks from both ends so I woulnt get docked at the recycler for having them plastic tanks on there.
The cross flow tubes on the inlet side had a lot of crap stuck in the tubes.
If I was going to do a filter on My truck, it would be someplace between the thermostat housing and the radiator. Then it would catch any impurities or chunks of rubber from the thermostats or any kind of silicone sealers that some PO may have used and over abundance of.
I’ll see if I can find the pics and post them in here. I think I threw them out in the what have You done with Your GM400 today, or some such. 🤷‍♂️😹
 
Expand the pics to get a real good look at the cross flow tubes.
Those thin black shaped pieces of rubber is from the old factory style thermostats that had that black rubber housing around them.
I have never used red or black silicone sealer on this engine. That was all from one of the POs.

248039ED-DD01-4B9B-9743-7EF2F3B0D87D.jpeg


F333DBE3-E44C-4621-B42A-A104A322C0D1.jpeg
 
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wirewrangler said:
Interesting. Thanks for the info gents! I never really looked into converting over to the green fluid but now you've got me thinking. I wish I had just done it after getting the new injectors in. I'd like to run the propylene glycol; tough to find anymore. Any reason y'all wouldn't run propylene glycol?
Click to expand...
I have read where it is okay to do that change over, it seems, that most people recommend doing a thorough cooling system flush before adding the green stuff to it.
 
they do offer blank filters without the SCA brick.

I'd be interested in a kit if someone made a nice one for the 6.5L

We run them on farm equipment, and it seems the breathing through the overflow hose, a little dirt (tractor) or chaff (combine) gets in. always nice to filter that crap out.
 
I've been running a coolant filter since my truck was new. I tapped into heater core hoses. I have had zero issues. Filters are good for 75k. In the filters for GM engines there are no tablets inside like the filters for the Fords.
I'll see if I can grab a few pics later.

www.donaldson.com

Donaldson Coolant Filters │Donaldson Engine & Vehicle

Donaldson offers a range of coolant filters that remove contaminants and help maintain cooling system balance in a variety of operating environments.
www.donaldson.com www.donaldson.com

On a side note. A long time ago in 2006-2007 someone on dieselplace made one. I bought all the parts and basically copied it. Then one day a guy PMd me and asked me a million questions and asked for detailed pics. I thought I was helping out a guy. Low and behold, the fu**in guy started to sell them on internet. I was shocked.
 
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RI Chevy Silveradoman said:
I've been running a coolant filter since my truck was new. I tapped into heater core hoses. I have had zero issues. Filters are good for 75k. In the filters for GM engines there are no tablets inside like the filters for the Fords.
I'll see if I can grab a few pics later.

www.donaldson.com

Donaldson Coolant Filters │Donaldson Engine & Vehicle

Donaldson offers a range of coolant filters that remove contaminants and help maintain cooling system balance in a variety of operating environments.
www.donaldson.com www.donaldson.com

On a side note. A long time ago in 2006-2007 someone on dieselplace made one. I bought all the parts and basically copied it. Then one day a guy PMd me and asked me a million questions and asked for detailed pics. I thought I was helping out a guy. Low and behold, the fu**in guy started to sell them on internet. I was shocked.
Click to expand...
I can't say I see having someone sell as a kit being a bad thing.

It's like Leroy's lift pump relay upgrade. You can aquire all the stuff and put it together yourself but I would just as soon pay Leroy for that.

I have nothing against someone putting a kit together and sell it.
I've been wishing somebody would do that for a permanent fuel pressure gauge for decades.
 
jrsavoie said:
I can't say I see having someone sell as a kit being a bad thing.

It's like Leroy's lift pump relay upgrade. You can aquire all the stuff and put it together yourself but I would just as soon pay Leroy for that.

I have nothing against someone putting a kit together and sell it.
I've been wishing somebody would do that for a permanent fuel pressure gauge for decades.
Click to expand...
I am surprised that Leroy has not jumped on that wagon. I would get one of those mighty quick like just to eliminate that live feed tube into the cab of the truck.
Guess I could scrounge the net and find the components. My biggest problem is I would like the gauge to be a vacuum/pressure gauge combination. Thats where it gets complicated in the fuel side of things.
 
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