A little piece of mind for the DK40/45/50 and likely others that use the same airbox

holeycow · Oct 31, 2014

Yup, sounded odd to me too when a former aircraft mechanic (20 years) who is now a Perkins engine mechanic (working for Perkins for the last 8 years) told me that. I will follow his advice. He is not your average kind of mechanic. He said the outer filter will let fines through and the inner filter catches these fines and eventually plugs up.

I will continue to grease the sealing surface as they don't seal well rubber-to-plastic. Just look at that surface the next time you clean. If you missed lining up those little bumps, then you will see the tell-tale trail of dust to the inside. Peace-of-mind for me.

DK35vince · Oct 31, 2014

holeycow said:
Yup, sounded odd to me too when a former aircraft mechanic (20 years) who is now a Perkins engine mechanic (working for Perkins for the last 8 years) told me that. I will follow his advice. He is not your average kind of mechanic. He said the outer filter will let fines through and the inner filter catches these fines and eventually plugs up.

I will continue to grease the sealing surface as they don't seal well rubber-to-plastic. Just look at that surface the next time you clean. If you missed lining up those little bumps, then you will see the tell-tale trail of dust to the inside. Peace-of-mind for me.

All I know is that I work around skid steers and other construction equipment that are used in high dust areas every day that have an inner and outer filters.
I have yet to see an inner filter get dirty unless there is a problem with the outer filter

grm61 · Oct 31, 2014

holeycow said:
Yup, sounded odd to me too when a former aircraft mechanic (20 years) who is now a Perkins engine mechanic (working for Perkins for the last 8 years) told me that. I will follow his advice. He is not your average kind of mechanic. He said the outer filter will let fines through and the inner filter catches these fines and eventually plugs up.

I will continue to grease the sealing surface as they don't seal well rubber-to-plastic. Just look at that surface the next time you clean. If you missed lining up those little bumps, then you will see the tell-tale trail of dust to the inside. Peace-of-mind for me.

My airtube has no dust or dirt in it.
There are no little bumps to line up, the ridges on the inside of the rubber, on outer the filter, are what make it a press fit....cylinder over a sleeve...not gonna leak there unless you plugged it solid through gross neglect.

I serviced heavy equipment for several years on loaders and haul trucks that ran all day, every day, in gravel pits in extremely dusty conditions, the inner filter is not going to get dirty unless the outer is compromised.

I can tell you through experience, that the sealing surface on this type of filter do not need to be greased, and that this is not a common practice in the construction industry.
like I said before dirtbikes yes, this type of filter no.

If you see ANY color at all on the inner, both should be replaced.

ON84 · Nov 2, 2014

Thanks Grm61.
The Napa filters are a perfect snug fit. No grease required.

BethelHntr · Nov 2, 2014

Anyone have the donaldson part number for the inner filter? I would like to run both especially in mowing season.

Coyote machine · Nov 11, 2014

Today's air filters are not meant to be cleaned. This topic has been covered at length in Compact Equipment Magazine articles on the subject of air filters and air handling on skid steers up to monster quarry material haulers. The only thing that should be done is to vacuum out the airbox and install a new filter at recommended intervals, or more frequently in severe dust conditions.

BTW, I too thought the inner smaller diameter filter was missing from my 2009, and now 2010 DK-40's. Dealer said no. It is possible Kioti improved the outer to eliminate the need for the inner, but somehow I doubt it. Thanks for the tip on where to find the inner one.

Knowing the way things go these days if someone had a late model motor fail and was using the 'un-necessary' inner filter they might blame it for choking off intake air and not pay the claim. Just sayin':confused3:

CJONE · Nov 12, 2014

I added the inner filter in mine from almost day 1. It does show fine dust when I blow them out, not much but it is still there and would have gone through the engine if the inner was not there. All the heavy equipment I have worked on had 2 elements and these tractors should be no different. The inner element # is p822769. 1 number above the outer in Donaldson ###'s. CJ