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[ridintall]

I installed a coolant filter in my 2004 6.0 van today. I felt it a good idea after having the oil and egr coolers replaced and finding oil and black flakes in the reservoir bottle after every drive. I bought it from Dieselsite who recommended I get the 6.4 kit as it came with extra hose. I actually needed another 5 ft piece of 3/8 hose in order to make it work.

I ran all the hose and mounted the filter before making any cuts. Splicing into the hose that goes into the coolant res. was easy. Splicing into the heater hose was a PIA. With the intercooler hose and AC lines (I have rear AC so there's extra plumbing) there wasn't much room to work at all.

I was able to cut 3/4 of the front most heater hose with a small sharp knife, being carefull not to puncture the other hose behind it. A bungee helped keep the rear hose out of the way. Getting the last 1/4 of the hose cut was the most challenging part. I was not able to cut through the hose because of some kind of sleeve that was inserted inside the heater hose. I tried various knives, exacto blades and even a zip saw from my hunting kit but just didn't have enough room to get back there and cut the last 1/4 of the hose. In the end I made a scary medieval looking tool using a linoleum cutting blade, long needle nose pliers and some zip ties.

It got dark just as I tightened the last hose clamp so I bagged it for today and will top off the coolant and check for leaks tomorrow.

I did find something interesting where I made the hose cut. It appears to be an aluminum sleeve that was inside the heater hose. It looks like either some kind of flow restrictor or sleeve to keep the hose from collapsing between the two 90 degree bends. It had to come out in order to make room for the T fitting. I hope it's OK to pull that out, after all, once I committed to that cut, there was no turning back. If someone could please let me know if it's OK to have that sleeve removed, I would appreciate it.

I'll post some pics once I'm all done.

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