cleaning airfilter on massey 165

[bozd]

hi, anyone tell me how to clean the airfilter on my tractor - I put in a new waterpump - had to grind off the retaining bolts and such to get at it - put new thermostat in (there wasnt one when I opened it up - is that usual ?) and then battled to get a new pulley belt that fitted - new one was slightly wider and so doesnt go down into the groove like the previous one -in other words every step is a baby one and i am learning as i go along.

however - I opened up the airfilter to give it a once over - it was full of oil - looks as if it is meant to be there - I googled oilfilter change and it did come up on a ford. thats my first question.

my second one is - how do you clean the wire filter - its full of grass and hay - steep it in petrol? power wash it? - that left me stumped - anyhows i decided to take a break from my amateur tractor mechanic work and went to rotovate my polytunnel with the tiller - she wouldnt start - mmmm best check the usual - came to the air filter - full of OIL AHHHHH!

any suggestions on either 1 or 2 above. thanks

 

[Gary Fowler]

I would say to clean the oil bath air cleaner, you first pour off the oil and scrape the collected dirt from the cup then refill with oil to the full level indicated on the cup. For the wire screens, I think you will have to solvent back wash it. Take it off turn it upside down and pour solvent thru it and maybe use a leave blower to blow out the debris. I have not seen one on a tractor in 50 years so I cant recall if your are supposed to re-wet the screen filter with oil or not after cleaning it but I seem to remember Dad doing that.. I dont remember Dad ever having to clean the screen. The old Fords we had had a prefilter jar that caught most of that grass etc.

 

[bozd]

I would say to clean the oil bath air cleaner, you first pour off the oil and scrape the collected dirt from the cup then refill with oil to the full level indicated on the cup. For the wire screens, I think you will have to solvent back wash it. Take it off turn it upside down and pour solvent thru it and maybe use a leave blower to blow out the debris. I have seen one on a tractor in 50 year so I cant recall if your are supposed to re-wet the screen filter with oil or not after cleaning it. I dont remember Dad ever having to clean the screen. The old Fords we had had a prefilter jar that caught most of that grass etc.

yes I thought about steeping the filter basket in petrol and then washing it out - would be practical to pour oil then through it to recoat - thanks

 

[Gary Fowler]

I edited my post to respond that I do seem to remember pouring about a half a quart of oil thru the screen to wet it. I suppose any excess oil if it overfilled the cup would still work just be a mess leaking out. I would pour a pint or so on the top and let it set to see if it dripped thru into a clean bottom cup, if not maybe pour another cup full thru and let it set for an hour or two to saturated then fill the cup to full mark with oil and crank it up let it run for a while. Air flow should make the oil fall on down. Check the oil level in the cup after running for a few hours to make sure it isnt over full.

 

[The kid]

I put in a new waterpump - had to grind off the retaining bolts and such to get at it -

I had to do this on my PTO rear output seal retainer plate. They where beat down round (mushroomed) and had to cut them off just a tad to get the bolts off.

and then battled to get a new pulley belt that fitted - new one was slightly wider and so doesnt go down into the groove like the previous

I upgraded mine to an alternator so the size was differrent. I took the old belt with me to the autoparts and they got me in the ballpark. I took the belt to make sure the Vee angle matched. It it doesn't, over a period of time the unmatched belt will wear down to the groove and the oversized belt will get loose. To buy a belt I don't know the length. I use a piece of thich rope and give myself a tad of slack and mark it with a marker for total length. I did this when I installed an alternator because the belt length was shorter. If the autoparts didn't have the right Vee angle, I went elsewhere to buy it. You want you belt to fit to where it's flat across and just touch the outside edge of your belt. [/QUOTE]

hi, anyone tell me how to clean the airfilter on my tractor

Oil bath air filters have to be cleaned and reoiled. The wire mesh filter is covered with oil which catches dirt comming into the filter. They work rather well.

Did you know a modern K&N high performance filter works on the same concept?

Remove the mess filter and put in a bucket and cover with Kerosene. Agitate the filter and let it soak to loosen all the dirt. I usually use about two gallons. One to soak in and one to rinse with.

After about an hour lift your filter out of the Kerosene and you'll see how dirty your filter was. Agitate in the Keroses a few minutes then rinse with clear Kerosene. Let drain air dry for about another hours. While your filter is draining, clean your filter housing that holds a small amount of oil which is said in your owners or shop manual. Now it's time to give your clean filter a reoiling with clean oil. With a clean bucket you can either dunk the filter or pour thru it. Your choice. The objective is to coat the entire mesh with a thin coating of oil. Now let the filter drain someplace clean. Put the recommended amount of oil in your breather and then reinsert and assemble your filter.

To get grass out of the mesh. Your suggestion will work, just don't get too close with the pressure washer. Your filter should have a precleaner to catch larger debrise

 

[Jerry/MT]

hi, anyone tell me how to clean the airfilter on my tractor - I put in a new waterpump - had to grind off the retaining bolts and such to get at it - put new thermostat in (there wasnt one when I opened it up - is that usual ?) and then battled to get a new pulley belt that fitted - new one was slightly wider and so doesnt go down into the groove like the previous one -in other words every step is a baby one and i am learning as i go along.


my second one is - how do you clean the wire filter - its full of grass and hay - steep it in petrol? power wash it? - that left me stumped - anyhows i decided to take a break from my amateur tractor mechanic work and went to rotovate my polytunnel with the tiller - she wouldnt start - mmmm best check the usual - came to the air filter - full of OIL AHHHHH!

any suggestions on either 1 or 2 above. thanks

Oil bath filters are probably one of the most neglected parts on a tractor. They work by the oil bieng pulled up on the mesh and then the dirt gets trapped on the oil and then the oil drains back down off the mesh when the engine is shutdown and the dirt settles in the bottom of the oil cup. When thy are neglected the best way I found to clean them is to get a 5 gallon pail and fill it with diesel fuel or gasoline so the entire filter is submerged in the solvent. Let it sit for a couple of days then partialyl drain the filter and swish it around a bit partially full of solvent and drain it fully. Decant off the solvent and dump the crap and corruption that's in the bottom of the pail, Put the solvent back into the pail and repeat the process. Do that untill the filter comes clean. Install the clean filter and fill the oil cup to the line on it with SAE 30 engine oil. Don't over fill it or it will get sucked into the engine and make a lot of smoke. The manuals all say to check the oil cup daily if you are in dusty conditions and replace the oil in the cup.

 

[bozd]

thank you all for the advice - this filter looks as if it hasnt been cleaned in a decade - as the tractor is never worked in a dusty environment (we dont have dust here - strangely) I have been lucky - so once cleaned I will clean it on a more regular basis - say every 5 years :laughing:

 

[Jerry/MT]

thank you all for the advice - this filter looks as if it hasnt been cleaned in a decade - as the tractor is never worked in a dusty environment (we dont have dust here - strangely) I have been lucky - so once cleaned I will clean it on a more regular basis - say every 5 years :laughing:

If you change the oil in the cup at every engine oil change and you don't operate in really dusty conditions then you should ever have to clean the filter by soaking in solvent. As I said most of these old oil bath cleaners were neglected and the cup was never drained, cleaned, and refilled with fresh oil. Many of them have an oily mud in the oil cup.

 

[Soundguy]

jerry of course nailed it.

to answer some mor eof the OP's questions.

ont he lack of a thermostat. Many farmers removed them thinking they caused overheating, VS simply maintaining their radiator and cooling system.

as for the belt.

it's possible someone put a 1/2" belt in place where a 5/8 should be. the 1/2" belts will ride the bottom of the pulley. and that's not correct. v belts transmit power from their sides.. they should not be bottomed out