So, a while back I had searched and read through many a thread on this website and with the help of you guys I installed a coolant filter. I used the napa 4019 kit that can be had from amazon with the 4070 filter, I spliced the filter into the inlet side heater hose and used extra 5/8 heater hose from advanced auto to make plumbing it easier so I could put it where I wanted to.
The thread is going to be somewhat irrelevant without a brief history of the truck but I'll try and keep it to the important details. Just skip to where you see pictures if you want to see the results and obvious conclusion.
Truck is a 1990 F350 crew cab rwd ZF5, has 118k miles on it as of now. Truck had a pretty easy life, was owned by an older man in Pittsburgh who had a work truck he drove in winter so it got to sit on some bad days since it's a 2wd. Just mostly highway miles driving to work and towing a small trailer with stuff for his work. He passed away and like a lot of IDI tales you will see, it got to someone (the son in law) who had no idea what he was doing, put autolites in it for one thing and changed the trans fluid and put gear oil in it. Just the usual stupid stuff that proper research can cause but its been taken care of since. Original owner used motorcraft antifreeze with the motorcraft sca additive, as his records were in the glove box. Truck only had one batch of major repairs under the original owner as it got new rings and some other top end work right before the original owner had passed. The ford garage that did it also put an IP from a wrecked truck with 48k miles on it and it got injectors as well. Paperwork didn't specify where from so I'll assume it was from the same wrecked truck. It's at least nice for me to know I have new rings and that my IP isn't really at 118k, though I do need to time my truck at some point if the chance ever presents itself as I think it is just a bit retarded and so did some at the rally but it really runs good. Coolant and oil had always stayed in their respective homes.
So anyways, approached another oil change and had turned the heater on once a week to see if it was still hot to know if the coolant filter was still flowing well or not and noticed it had cooled a lot. Figured I'd take it off today and see what was going on and change it out.
So, I took the filter off in a zip lock bag. What came out looked a bit strange but I didn't think it was gonna be filter clogged worthy..
Well, that's rather gross. Lots of stuff that was floating around in there definitely got caught up in the filter. I know I could have flushed it and used fleet charge, but I'm a big fan of if it's working and doesn't leak leave it be. And since I could get test strips and vc8 sca additive and still be doing things correctly that was the route I chose, but this stuff I'm glad is coming out.
Another view of inside the filter housing.
In case you don't know about this install as well, here is a picture of all you have to do. The 4019 kit comes with a filter and all of the mounting and plumbing hardware. You can do the entire install with nothing more then a knife to cut your heater hose. Here's a picture of mine when I first put it in. I eventually made a piece of metal to mount it off the side of the fuel filter but that's honestly optional as long as you put it in a good vertical place where it won't interfere with other stuff.
But, here's a look into the radiator. Everything looks really good. Never thought it looked "bad" before but it's a way brighter and clearer green and the sca's tested perfectly yet again so that was nice to see. Put another 4070 filter on and we'll see what happens at the next oil change.
If you aren't sure if a coolant filter system would benefit you though, I wish I had a before picture of my fluid in the radiator but I would have never thought I had this much junk floating around in there.
I did. Just do this if your questioning it.
The thread is going to be somewhat irrelevant without a brief history of the truck but I'll try and keep it to the important details. Just skip to where you see pictures if you want to see the results and obvious conclusion.
Truck is a 1990 F350 crew cab rwd ZF5, has 118k miles on it as of now. Truck had a pretty easy life, was owned by an older man in Pittsburgh who had a work truck he drove in winter so it got to sit on some bad days since it's a 2wd. Just mostly highway miles driving to work and towing a small trailer with stuff for his work. He passed away and like a lot of IDI tales you will see, it got to someone (the son in law) who had no idea what he was doing, put autolites in it for one thing and changed the trans fluid and put gear oil in it. Just the usual stupid stuff that proper research can cause but its been taken care of since. Original owner used motorcraft antifreeze with the motorcraft sca additive, as his records were in the glove box. Truck only had one batch of major repairs under the original owner as it got new rings and some other top end work right before the original owner had passed. The ford garage that did it also put an IP from a wrecked truck with 48k miles on it and it got injectors as well. Paperwork didn't specify where from so I'll assume it was from the same wrecked truck. It's at least nice for me to know I have new rings and that my IP isn't really at 118k, though I do need to time my truck at some point if the chance ever presents itself as I think it is just a bit retarded and so did some at the rally but it really runs good. Coolant and oil had always stayed in their respective homes.
So anyways, approached another oil change and had turned the heater on once a week to see if it was still hot to know if the coolant filter was still flowing well or not and noticed it had cooled a lot. Figured I'd take it off today and see what was going on and change it out.
You must be registered for see images attach
So, I took the filter off in a zip lock bag. What came out looked a bit strange but I didn't think it was gonna be filter clogged worthy..
You must be registered for see images attach
Well, that's rather gross. Lots of stuff that was floating around in there definitely got caught up in the filter. I know I could have flushed it and used fleet charge, but I'm a big fan of if it's working and doesn't leak leave it be. And since I could get test strips and vc8 sca additive and still be doing things correctly that was the route I chose, but this stuff I'm glad is coming out.
You must be registered for see images attach
Another view of inside the filter housing.
In case you don't know about this install as well, here is a picture of all you have to do. The 4019 kit comes with a filter and all of the mounting and plumbing hardware. You can do the entire install with nothing more then a knife to cut your heater hose. Here's a picture of mine when I first put it in. I eventually made a piece of metal to mount it off the side of the fuel filter but that's honestly optional as long as you put it in a good vertical place where it won't interfere with other stuff.
You must be registered for see images attach
But, here's a look into the radiator. Everything looks really good. Never thought it looked "bad" before but it's a way brighter and clearer green and the sca's tested perfectly yet again so that was nice to see. Put another 4070 filter on and we'll see what happens at the next oil change.
You must be registered for see images attach
If you aren't sure if a coolant filter system would benefit you though, I wish I had a before picture of my fluid in the radiator but I would have never thought I had this much junk floating around in there.
I did. Just do this if your questioning it.
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