..........Heater hose strainer..........."modern problems" LOL

[67Dart273]

The "mini whale" (white Dakota project) already suffered from a mostly clogged heater core. This is something that I've NEVER experienced until this "modern stuff" came along. After changing the core in the green Dakota (which I sold) it's obvious that the tiny tube passages in these modern cores WILL PLUG with just a little junk

Changin the green Dak heater........tiny joke of a core, I put the "heavy duty" one NAPA listed back in, which was way thicker

So after backflushing the one in the "mini whale" project, and it may/ may not be totally clear, I intend to flush it AGAIN, and install this "Y" strainer which I bought off an ebay seller named "DudaDiesel" for about 12 bucks. The brass 5/8 barbs to 1/2" pipe I just now bought from HD for about 9 bucks

This will go in the pass side hose in place of the brass factory splice

 

[383Scampman]

I feel your pain . I just got my Dakota back from having the heater backflushed for the third time . I'm thinking its days are numbered . I would have done this myself but it is 9*F. outside . My better half has an important medical appointment this week . Think the Dak is headed for the happy hunting ground .

 

[383Scampman]

P.S. I don't understand what the device is for . Some sort of filter ? OTR rigs have coolant filters that go between the rad and engine . Some even have a built in drain to make servicing easier . Why aren't they in cars ?

 

[67Dart273]

As I eluded to in the original post, the heater core is not only TINY in these rigs, but the PASSAGES are proportionately tiny. I would say they are from 1/4---1/6 the size of the "old school" like might be found in our old A bodies and others. "What this means" is that it takes a TINY amount of trash, relatively speaking, to plug them. If you Google this, "I ain't alone" LMAO and neither is Dodge. It's a fairly widespread problem across the brand names

 

[4spdragtop]

The reason I sold my 2001 F150 was heater core shot. Rockauto for $50. 10hrs shop labor to change it...dash, airbags forget it! Good truck 350,000 kms.

 

[JoeSBP]

You try flushing it with something like motorcraft VC-1? That and a spin-on style filter like the ones they use on the 6.0 diesels might save you a lot of heartache in the future..

 

[tonysrt]

And here is another way car makers screw us. With the tremendous price increase of copper some smart *** penny pincher said we could save money by decreasing the size of the tubes in the heater core. Let the customer worry about the clogs.

 

[RedFish]

They've deleted replicable fuel filters in a lot of modern examples too. There isn't supposed to be a significant amount of debris in these fluid systems. Good for 10 years anyway.

 

[67Dart273]

An interesting read on cooling system flush techniques

Don't Rush the Flush

 

[YY1]

...and after the second or third time you flush it...it starts leaking.

Here's an opportunity for the aftermarket to make a "better than OEM" product.

...and another thing...why in the F don't then have an access panel in the sheet metal from the engine side of the core? That's been pissing me off since the very first one I had to deal with on a 60's car back in the 80's.

I'm seriously tempted to put in an aftermarket generic core.