The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Radiator water filter?

Somewhere online I've seen large radiator water filters for sale. Thought at the time they were stupid. Now that I'm trying to revive the old 216 that hasn't run in 50 years I'm worried about rust throughout the engine and then it coursing through the new aluminum radiator I'm about to install and now the filter idea sounds great. Anybody running one of these and do you recommend it? Can you buy them at your FLAPS?

Thanks.

seems like a waste of money

get some flushing solution, soak and flush the block well before you put in the new rad, refill with soft water and keep the right antifreeze in it .... and use the truck, don't let it just sit the next 50 years

Bill

Excellent advice Red58 and whom ever will Listen!

Agree!

Good advice. Thank you. Still curious about a filter though?!?

there appear to be a few different breeds of filters around .... for the good that they [wouldn't] do, some folks do use them, better to make sure your temp gauge is functional and tend to your cooling system if the gauge starts deviating from it's usual behavior

once you've cleaned out the block well, and if you use low-mineral content water with good antifreeze, there won't be much of anything in there to filter, just stay on top of preventive maintenance per your shop manual

Bill

The idea was to filter out any sediment that's going to be stirred up once I get this old engine running after being dormant 50 years. I'll flush it out as others have recommended, but realize that I can't get everything out before I start it. The filter idea came to me as a way to catch particles that let loose once it's running and becomes hot.

Thanks.

in theory that sounds like a good idea. in reality you decide. i wouldnt want to restrict a system that is somewhat already restricted. i wouldnt be to concerned with what is suspended and going through the system since you can flush that out regularly. its the stuff thats now part of the block and head. id start by removing the pet cock and go from there. refill with soft water as red said or us deionized water.

You are correct about the garbage getting into the new radiator. You DO NOT want that. So flush it with a hose till runs clean as advised above, without radiator. Shoot water into the inlet for awhile, then shoot water into the outlet (backflush) for awhile. You can mix and match any radiator hose that helps you get the garden hose gun into it. Use a rag as a seal to keep leakage to a minimum. I don't know anything about a 216, but I second what Ashton says, if it has petcocks on the block, take them out while flushing. You can't get gunk to run thru a little opening in a petcock. Then run engine with bottom radiator hose hooked up to radiator, but not top hose. Arrange top hose (attached to engine outlet) so that it runs into a catchment to watch water color. Take out thermostat and watch the heat gauge. It must get up to operating temp. Keep filling radiator with a hose. Hopefully top hose will start flowing more gunk out into a bucket. Block radiator air flow with newspaper or remove fan. I do not know if this works. Either I just thought of it or I have done it. It's kind of similar to how you use one of those flushing kits. If you could keep filling radiator with hot water, that would be even better.

Thanks everyone for the good advice! Sounds like a long and thorough flushing is what is needed most and I will be doing that this weekend. Will look online for a filter but I'm not going to worry about it anymore.

Those filters are just a tube with some screen in it. They would plug up all the time, which is good and bad. They are $60 at Summit.