Thread: Product Review: Tefba Radiator Filter

Ok fitted mine. Now this is interesting. With a fine stocking over the intake of the radiator to protect it in the last few days max temp seen on Scanguage II was 98. With that removed and Tefba fine filter fitted (and bearing in mind that its a fit that causes the pipes to expand quite a bit, so inside diameter is very very close to actual pipe size...so no flow restriction save for the filter element itself) max temps are now 102.

Both the 98 and 102 were after a good hard run then sitting idle with AC on. This is a V8 manual 02 D2.

So I am very happy to have the filtration (the filter will not be dirty yet - only on for an hour or so. But it does increase temps marginally. I have bled it and will bleed it again to make sure, but I doubt she has any air pockets.

I think once the filter has been in place for a while I will take out the filter element and see what happens. In the long run I might leave the filter out if going off on hard off road trips, although even at 102 at idle that is a peak for a few seconds and then it drops back to 100. It may be that I lost enough coolant (Water wetter - Redline) to make a deviation in figures too, because I just replaced that lost stuff with straight water. It was top radiator hose, but I still lost over a litre...

Cheers

Interesting , you think possibly a restriction to flow somehow may cause the operating temp to be higher . So ,being a Centrifugal pump, or better explained as a Kinetic energy pump,unless the suction side was no longer flooded then how could there be a loss of adequate flow . The actual flow rate is and will be determined by that size of the controlled Hole in the Thermostat . Then you have time in the radiator versus flow through the radiator .(A real reason why they say never toss the whole Thermostat, just remove the Waxstat ,which will leave a 1 inch hole)The pump is always running in stall , which means if we radically decrease the discharge head it would still keep up .(remember the more it is stalled the less HP it Draws)
So unless the filter blocks to the point that there is a loss of flooded suction then you dont have a problem .(and then just clean it out, its doing the job it was designed for . )

Originally Posted by 400HPONGAS

Interesting , you think possibly a restriction to flow somehow may cause the operating temp to be higher . So ,being a Centrifugal pump, or better explained as a Kinetic energy pump,unless the suction side was no longer flooded then how could there be a loss of adequate flow . The actual flow rate is and will be determined by that size of the controlled Hole in the Thermostat . Then you have time in the radiator versus flow through the radiator .(A real reason why they say never toss the whole Thermostat, just remove the Waxstat ,which will leave a 1 inch hole)The pump is always running in stall , which means if we radically decrease the discharge head it would still keep up .(remember the more it is stalled the less HP it Draws)
So unless the filter blocks to the point that there is a loss of flooded suction then you dont have a problem .(and then just clean it out, its doing the job it was designed for . )

What happens when a thermostat fails partially open and insufficiently enough to provide adequate flow as the engine heats up......??????
Thought that would have been obvious.


I am not a moderator, I am a human being!!!

Originally Posted by 400HPONGAS

Interesting , you think possibly a restriction to flow somehow may cause the operating temp to be higher . So ,being a Centrifugal pump, or better explained as a Kinetic energy pump,unless the suction side was no longer flooded then how could there be a loss of adequate flow . The actual flow rate is and will be determined by that size of the controlled Hole in the Thermostat . Then you have time in the radiator versus flow through the radiator .(A real reason why they say never toss the whole Thermostat, just remove the Waxstat ,which will leave a 1 inch hole)The pump is always running in stall , which means if we radically decrease the discharge head it would still keep up .(remember the more it is stalled the less HP it Draws)
So unless the filter blocks to the point that there is a loss of flooded suction then you dont have a problem .(and then just clean it out, its doing the job it was designed for . )

Seriously?

you dont want to reconsider a couple of those points do you?...

• since the tefba goes in the top hose and thats usually the discharge hose you'll normally be blocking discharge not suction.
• Blocking the inlet causes a pump to cavitate not stall
• The actual flow rate is determined by several things, not least of which is the pump speed and last time I checked the water pump on most cars is not a constant rate pump.
• Who says to never toss the whole thermostat, come to think of it Who says to toss a thermostat?
• the thermostat is to keep the coolant in the engine to allow it to warm up not to slow the coolant down in the radiator. The small cross section of the individual radiator tubes ensures that the optimal flow rate through the radiator is maintained

Yep..Pongas was way ahead of my understanding of hydraulics..but being a bush mechanic in family of mechanics, I thought I was pretty safe to say that 1, restriction can cause increase in heat and 2, my anecdotal experience with this filter was worth reporting.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

Seriously?

you dont want to reconsider a couple of those points do you?...

• since the tefba goes in the top hose and thats usually the discharge hose you'll normally be blocking discharge not suction.
• Blocking the inlet causes a pump to cavitate not stall
• The actual flow rate is determined by several things, not least of which is the pump speed and last time I checked the water pump on most cars is not a constant rate pump.
• Who says to never toss the whole thermostat, come to think of it Who says to toss a thermostat?
• the thermostat is to keep the coolant in the engine to allow it to warm up not to slow the coolant down in the radiator. The small cross section of the individual radiator tubes ensures that the optimal flow rate through the radiator is maintained

OH SNAP!!!!!!!!!

I was going to go into a little detail but I really couldnt be bothered as you can't tell someone who knows everything, even the worlds best engine builder!

Andrew


I am not a moderator, I am a human being!!!

I was talking to a fellow forum member last week and he has removed his Tefba from his P38A owing to leaks in the filter. Not a good thing on an aluminium V8..

I ran one with a 3.5 v8 which had serious scale build up in the block due to previous poor maintenance. I was amazed at how much grunge which probably used to be aluminium alloy ended up in it every week. It previously had a stocking filter which had cloggd to the point of not flowing. The Tefba takes about the same time to check as the engine oil level.