Oil & Fuel 2305 - 50 Hr Oil Change

[ADin]

Despite the fact that my JD2305 manual does not mention an engine oil change at 50hrs I went ahead and changed the engine oil/filter this past weekend. It does call out a transmission oil change, which the JD parts guys seem baffled and thought was likely backwards. I did go the fully synthetic route and hopefully all is sufficiently broken in already. Ran out of time before getting the tranny oil yet, so somebody tell me quick if I should hold beyond the 50hrs.

Any case, in the process of performing what I thought would be a 5 minute task I discovered the original filter was tighten down unbelieveably tight. Of course even thought it's exposed nicely on the side of the engine, there is really no good way to get leverage or tool (strap) on it. I finally figured out a trick to make short work of it, but I have never, ever had to apply such force to break loose the filter. Even after turning 1/2 turn mechanically it still could not be budged bare handed.

Q: Are all the original filters this tight by design and/or is it related to use of break-in oil somehow, or is it just some yahoo at the JD plant tightening these things down with an impact wench?

 

[JDFANATIC]

Hulka Wang at the Yanmar factory is well known for his tightening antics. I just hope one day he needs to remove a filter he puts on.

 

[bigreddmax]

OK ADin, whats the trick ???

 

[Deadman]

Pound a screw driver through the side of it and use it as a lever and turn it off.

 

[rvtech]

A difficult to loosen filter can be caused by not lubricating the rubber gasket when installing.

 

[RollTideRam]

I have changed both oil and tranny filters on my 2520. They were both on tight, but with the strap I have, I had no problems. It is a simple tool, 6 inch long tubing with a seat-belt type web strap. Use a 1/2 inch ratchet and no problelms. JC

 

[JDFANATIC]

rv, IMHO, Hulka Wang does not lubricate the filter when he installs it. He enjoys our pain.

rolltide, The 2210 has much tighter clearances and the ratchet belts are nearly useless. I just used a channel lock and crushed and squeezed the filter until it was loose. Of course, the subsequent changes have gone easily.

 

[b1877]

I also had to use a screw driver to remove the oil filter on my 2210.

 

[ADin]

Initially I thought to try channel locks; I was a bit apprehensive about crushing the filter, but in the end I didn't have a pair large enough to get a good grip so it didn't matter.

I briefly thought about a screwdriver through the side of the filter, but flashbacks from a filter removal gone awry 20 years ago banished that thought quickly.

Given how tight the filter was, I'm not sure either of the above would have worked. Last thing I wanted was a ripped in half, sharp, oil dripping filter.

My *trick* which I've used a number of times on cars was to tighten a hose clamp around the filter (actually two small clamps put together to be able the fit over the filter). The clamps can really be tightened down hard without crushing the filter due to distributing the pressure around the filter evenly. Once tightened on, the filter now had two "ears" to help grab and get leverage with. This is usually enough on autos were you can only get one hand on the filter and can be put on in really tight places. However, I still could not physically turn the filter even though my hand was now not slipping around the filter. I had to then get my adjustable rubber straps (~6" handle w/ HD adjustable rubber - similar principle to the ratchet belts I believe) on the filter and because of the clamp ears on the filter, the straps did not have to go perpendicular to the filter, but could now be ~45 degrees to the filter such that I could clear the surrounding obstacles. The handle on the straps is designed to tighten further as you apply force but the strap will still often simply slip around a filter if it's oily or very tight. With the clamps on, the strap would slip around under force until the handle made contact with the clamp. My smaller rubber straps could not apply enough force and I had to step up to my largest/heaviest straps. Even still, for a moment it was looking like even my large straps were either going to stretch too far to loose leverage or break, but luckily the filter started to finally move.

 

[JDFANATIC]

ADin,

Clever idea!