Collant Filter Plumbing?

[FORDF250HDXLT]

fleet charge coolant is pre-charged with SCA so you don't add anything but distilled water 50/50 ratio if you buy it not mixed.so you would use a blank filter.

the setup you have will work.it will bypass the heater core bypass loop.you'll not know if you ever get a plugged filter in this setup but you'll never loose heat.
the shut off valves,though those seem like a practical method of being able to shut them off for a clean filter change,in reality,you'll likely lose as much coolant during a filter change (with no pressure on the system/cool engine) as you would without them (which will be whatever is in the filter plus about half that amount again) though they certainly wont hurt anything.

oh,to your last question under your diagram;
it makes no difference if you place this setup before or after your heater core.i see no pro's/con's either way.i would go for whichever gives you the cleanest install.

 

[crash-harris]

The L-valve in the pic will normally be turned towards the fleet (normal flow) so it will flow straight through it. If the filter starts to plug up then the heat will get weak and I can just turn to L-valve the other direction (bypass flow) and shutoff the output from the filter head to retain heat until I change the filter.

I'll probably run it on the hose coming from the block. I think I'll have the filter head pointing towards the cab so I have some extra room to unscrew it for changes. That would put my L-valve right in line with that hose from the side of the block.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

oh yup.i gotcha.i see that now.i was thinking of that as a equal splitter rather than a one way or the way for some reason.yeah that's kinda slick.looking forward to seeing it installed.

 

[jhenegh]

Pics would be great

 

[crash-harris]

It won't be until after the turn of the year that I'll have the front clip off. I'll post pics of the mock up once the L-valve arrives and then some post-install once it's done.

 

[The Warden]

I've seen that pic here before. Makes my head spin everytime I look at!

I should note something about that picture...I thought I addressed this in the article, but from this comment and some comments I've seen from others, it seems to me that people aren't getting it.

Yes, there are more fittings than there need to be on my setup, and my setup is more complicated than it needs to be. I did that intentionally because I wanted to keep the number of bends in my heater hoses to a minimum so that I wouldn't stress out the material on the hoses or risk anything kinking (for what it's worth, the hoses still look brand-new after almost 12 years, and other than some seepage from the threads that I've addressed, I've had zero problems with the mess of fittings). If you wanted to eliminate the valves and drain more coolant when you service the coolant filter, to install it as a bypass setup, all you really need are two barbed Tee-fittings. Put one fitting in each hose, run a length of hose from the block hose to the "In" port on the coolant filter, then run a length of hose from the "out" port on the coolant filter to the water pump hose. And there you have it - a simple bypass filter install.

There are varying levels of complexity between "install it inline" and "copy my setup"...I still contend that the filter was designed to be installed as a bypass filter and should be installed that way. Maybe it's an old wives' tale; I'm not sure, but I've been told in the past that maintaining flow between the output on the cylinder head and the input at the water pump is beneficial to the cooling system. This is also why I installed a coolant bypass valve that maintains that flow while eliminating the heater core from the loop instead of just putting a single shut-off valve that cuts flow. Is it necessary? One can debate that; I may or may not have received bad info. But, IMHO it really isn't that much more difficult to do, and why take any chances? However, in the end, it's your truck and your choice...you can do as you see fit

 

[crash-harris]

I had originally intended to do a simple version of your setup, ie: copying the majority of installs I've seen workout the vacuum actuated valve that you have. I'm wanting to make sure that as much of the coolant as possible gets filtered. When installed the traditional way, only some coolant hits the filter, some hits the heater core. I'm fine if every few months for the first year I have it installed I have to get out and turn the valves to bypass the filter. But it gives me a better indicator that the filter is plugging up and needs replaced. I want to keep up on it since the reman engine install seemed to be a hacked together rush job and it obviously wasn't particularly cared for.

I have pipe dope that normally gets used to seal air brake fittings (safety-lok). As long as I don't over do it, I should be able to reconfigure it into a bypass filter setup later on if I feel the need to. I have all the fittings and valves already to run it that way.

 

[Clb]

Fwiw
Anyone mention a 3 valve bypass in the heater core lines( kills the heater in summer)??

 

[crash-harris]

L-valve came in as well, so here's the mock up. Of course inlet is at the bottom.

Normal operation

You must be registered for see images attach

Bypass

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[riotwarrior]

Wow that is one he k of a lot of potential leaks....lots of liquid thread sealant there...no teflon tape

 

[crash-harris]

For sure. Have a tube of saf-t-lok for that.

 

[riotwarrior]

I count 20 not incloding hoses....

 

[dunk]

Seems way overkill (and space consuming) for something you can just plumb in line and forget about, just change filter annually or when heat gets weak. Vacuum valve (or ball valves) can tuck out of the way to bypass heater core in summer if that's important to you.

 

[crash-harris]

I need heat more often than not. Really it takes up about as much room as if I were to set it up as a bypass filter, but with 2 less fittings. If I just plumbed it inline, since I'm installing it in winter, I'd probably be changing filters every other week from what I've heard. I also won't be able to use a hose to flush the block when I drain the green coolant out since I'll be doing all of this in a pole barn with the nearest water source about 80 yards away. Gonna be a jugs 'n buckets job, so I'm sure I'll get some sludgey mess in the first filter pretty quick.

I'd do a 6BT swap if I wanted to save space

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

it's very rare to have a coolant filter plug up.

sure,your first filter will catch all the sand casting and reduce heat in the cab a touch after 10k miles or so (i replaced my first one at like 8k iirc and she was pretty loaded with sand)
but after that,it should never happen again with a napa/wix style (blank or sca charged) filter.

that said,
if you use a SCA filter which slowly releases the SCA's these can congeal and plug up......they're not supposed to but iv had 1 out of (i dunno exactly now,i could look in my records but im being lazy lmao) 3 or 4 penray need release filters plug up.
even in this rare circumstance,it was simply a matter of stopping in at a NAPA to grab a blank filter and a couple mins to change it to restore heat in the cab.
if it wasn't so rare id toss a spare penray behind the seat,but odds are it will probably never happen again to me.......never say never lol.


Merry Christmas.


here's what is not supposed to happen;
http://penray.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Need-Release-Rise-Above-Flyer-614.pdf