Oil & Fuel B7800 fuel filter stuck in bowl

[rswyan]

You guys kill me. $20k + tractor and you wont buy a $10 filter.

Oh we buy 'em ... it's that we choose to contribute to The Kubota Dealers Benevolent Association Charitable Fund a little bit less often than you apparently do ... :laughing:

Charity is a good thing however ... and personally, I'm glad to see you pulling your weight ... and mine along with it ... :thumbsup:

 

[rswyan]

Right. We all didn't get stinkin' rich by wasting nickles and dimes . . . or $10 bucks either. Sweat the small stuff, I always say! ****, I'll use a paper towel more'n once if it ain't greasy. ...

:thumbsup:

I use Permatex Fast Orange (Smooth) Handcleaner up in the shop (no running water) ... the paper towels I use to wipe it off my hands get used a minimum of 2x ...

 

[kuboman]

I think the point is missed here. Its not the $10 filter that is in question it is the possible damage to a $2000 fuel system that is at risk. For myself the $10 filter is darn cheap insurance.

 

[bumperm]

I think the point is missed here. Its not the $10 filter that is in question it is the possible damage to a $2000 fuel system that is at risk. For myself the $10 filter is darn cheap insurance.

I don't think your point is either missed or risked. We are not talking about some hair brained procedure. Cleaning a disassemblable filter is a standard in many maintenance manuals. Assuming the filter media is intact, the risk of "catastrophic" failure of the "old" filter media is about as low as installing a new filter media that is defective out of the box, and either should be discernible with visual inspection. A filter that has too much delta P for some reason, will cause the engine to loose power, especially under load, but I've not heard of a blocked filter damaging a $2000 fuel system. As they say, this ain't rocket surgery :c)

I'm guilty of blowing out my air cleaner with compressed air instead of buying new each time also. An a leak in *that* filter most certainly has the potential to cause rapid engine wear due to the engine ingesting abrasive dirt. The mfgs are obviously thinking about this too, as my Kubota has a secondary filter within the first paper element one - - and that secondary filter is to be replaced, rather than cleaned and reused, per the manual.

I'll concede replacing for new each time won't hurt a thing either, and it's apparent some prefer that.

 

[Post Carbon]

Well, thanks for all the advice. It was really jammed in there. I used a small screwdriver in the center hole to pry it slowly out. This deformed that hole into more of an octagon now, so I won't be using that filter again.

The O rings did NOT come with the filter, this is true. I will replace them the next time I replace the filter, although the smallest ring never showed up--it might be jammed up inside still.

I had to do this because my engine kept stalling, and of course it had a completely full tank. So as my B7800 has no stopcock on the fuel line that I can see, I needed another pair of hands to hold back the fuel that was pouring out, like the little Dutch boy with the hole in the dike. What a pain. Wondering if a person can install something like that--it sure would be handy.

It's running well now, so thanks for the tips. I'll try the needlenose next time, as I didn't shove it down in there too hard, and hopefully it won't be such a struggle next time.

PCP

 

[nspec]

You clean air filters. You DON'T clean fuel filters. Sure you CAN, but nowhere is this an accepted practice. I don't feel like I'm 'donating' my hard earned money to anybody by spending 10 bucks every 100 hrs. Now, if I had to spend money on injectors or fuel pump repairs because I cheaped out and tried to clean a $10 paper fuel filter, I'd feel like a real fool. Just sayin'....

By the way, I had to hold the canister with a round style set of channel lock pliers and wiggle the filter out with needle nose vise grips.

 

[rswyan]

You clean air filters. You DON'T clean fuel filters. Sure you CAN, but nowhere is this an accepted practice. ...

Well, I sure dunno what your Kubota Owners Manual says, but I do know what mine says ... and apparently cleaning the fuel filter was - and possibly (still) is - not only an accepted practice, but a recommended one ... at least at Kubota Corporation ...

And the last time I looked, that ain't nowhere ... particularly in light of the fact that they are liable for issues while the machine is under warranty.

Quick little story: A few years back I was talking to one of the brothers that own the local rental house ... happened to mention I was planning on installing a Racor fuel filter for some increased filtration.

He laughed ... and then told me that they had outfitted a number of units in their rental fleet with Racors using the fine filter (2 micron ?) ... and then promptly removed them after their service calls for clogged filters shot through the roof ...

 

[sandyc]

Guess I would have changed fuel supplier of their fuel is that dirty

 

[rswyan]

Guess I would have changed fuel supplier of their fuel is that dirty

The problem wasn't the rental shop's fuel (which is filtered) - it was the fuel that their customers were putting in the equipment when they were out on rental ... that coupled with the generally dirty/dusty environment one finds at construction sites

 

[kuboman]

He laughed ... and then told me that they had outfitted a number of units in their rental fleet with Racors using the fine filter (2 micron ?) ... and then promptly removed them after their service calls for clogged filters shot through the roof ...

I guess the filter was doing its job. Isn't that what is for?