Swallowed my air cleaner!

[Christopher]

I was out burning brush today and was using the tractor, (Kubota L2550 ) I was driving along the fire and I noticed the engine sounded funny all of the sudden and a little puff of black smoke came out of the exaust and I smelled burnt rubber for just a second, I quickly idled it down and got off to look at the engine and it shut itself off, I found the air cleaner, (or what was left of the air cleaner element) a ball of melted rubber and some wire, no paper, no ashes, no dust. it must have gone through the engine, I cleaned everything out as much as I could and drove it to the shop. now, the question is, what damage could I have done? how can I find out if I did any damage , and if any, how much. what can I do to minimize any damage that might occur? I am changing the oil now, it was about due anyway, and I am changing the air cleaner, ( obviously ) . I hope I didn't do too much damage, I can't afford to rebuild the engine now. Chris

 

[TerryinMD]

Did you possibly suck in some embers that caused the filter to catch fire?

The only thing I can think to do is to remove as much of the remaining filter as possible. Maybe vacuum out the intake manifold. Since you have to get a new filter, talk to the service manager and see what they recommend. Then what the heck, fire it up.

Good luck to you

Terry

 

[Bird]

This is a new one to me. But if you drove it back to the shop after cleaning it out as well as you could, and it's running OK, then I wouldn't worry about it, except as Terry said, I'd try to see if there was anything in the intake manifold, and if so, clean it out, not run it anymore until I got a new filter, and ask a mechanic at the dealership where I got the filter.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Bird on 11/09/01 06:11 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[r0GuE]

If the filter gets dirty enough (blocked airflow) and the unit is at a somewhat high RPM, and then... a significant increase in blockage occurs suddenly, (some ash), does this engine have enough compression (or whatever) to literaly suck the air clearer in to itself.
GEESH!
I'm gonna have to take a look at my aircleaner today...
Good luck!

Rogue

 

[Jeff396]

I have a '97 F350 Ford Power Stroke diesel. Shortly after I bought it I got a recall for this very thing. Apparently they had to somehow reinforce the air cleaner or it would "suck" it in when it got slightly clogged. I'm not sure if the problem they were having was as extreme as this case but I'm pretty sure only the diesel was subject to the recall. Maybe there is drastically more suction what with the extremely high compression.

Jeff

 

[rbargeron]

The air cleaner element is full of dry dust and a spark from the nearby fire possibly ignited it. The paper and rubber parts would burn and the ash would get sucked into the engine - the wire cage in the element would get deformed from the heat.

During this short fire the engine would be oxygen-starved so may have just shut down from being choked. The good news is that any ash that got into the engine would likely be very small and would go right out with the exhaust stream. Coke (from the burning rubber) is abrasive, but there wouldn't be enough of it to do damage in that short a time. And the hot gasses entering the engine may not have lasted long enough to hurt anything. If the paint is intact on the inlet manifold, my bet is your engine is fine.

As Bird and Terry suggest, and as you are doing, clean out as much as you can, replace the filter parts, and things should be ok. Changing the engine oil and filter is a good idea too.

On the question about high intake suction, the only pressure available is atmospheric so it's the same regardless of the engine's compression ratio. (In some ways, ash from a burning element may be easier on an engine than solid chunks coming from a mechanically ripped-apart element)

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I've heard of people choking on their own tongue's but never a tractor. When I'm burning I just keep a pile next to the burning pile and slowly push it in as there's room so I'm not usually in the smoke. Even if I drop something on top of it I can usually drop and backup before the fire knows I'm there.

If I have to stir something I use the backhoe.

These really aren't suited for heavy burning, an excavator with it's much longer arm is better.

This spring I had a fellow burn a slash pile that was 60 x 130 x 30 feet high and then burned about (est) 300 stumps and more slash. One time his coat caught on fire, one time debris down by the boom caught on fire, he was close enough that I can't even see how the hoses didn't ignite somtimes. He told me it's time to back away fromthe fire when he notices the paint "changing color" on the boom.

The biggest fire I've ever done myself he probably wouldn't even notice if it was burning in his yard at home! Incredible what that guy did

Speaking of that it's a good idea to have a fire extinguisher with the tractor having a fire or even operating in the woods. I had a branch come through the front of my NH, somehow jam the battery into the cowl and start burning. I could have lost the tractor if I hadn't been able to get the thing from continuing.

Would have the thought the alternator would have been ruined but it wasn't.

must have been my day...

del

 

[RichNJ]

My car ate an air cleaner once. The filter element is made from foam rubber. It is to be cleaned w/gas and re-used. One day I was driving along and GULP. The engine died for a couple of seconds and I heard a GULP sound. Did not have time to check it out that evening but was just glad the car was still running. The next day the engine had trouble running. Since I had just put a new O2 sensor on I checked it's output voltage and it was way off. The combustion products from the foam rubber must have screwed up the O2 sensor. Replaced the filter and sensor and all is well.
For those that do not know what an O2 sensor is:
It measures the oxygen content of the exhaust gasses and feeds the info to the injection computer. The injection computer uses the O2 sensor as one of the factors to determine fuel/air ratio.
Kubota diesel engines do not have an O2 sensor.

 

[jinman]

Christopher, be glad you don't have a turbo or precooler. Just think of the mess that would have been with all that stuff going through the turbocharger and plugging up the precooler. I think you got lucky. I hope there's no permanent damage.

JimI

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya
well i'd say ya set ya air filter on fire with a spark as for being sucked in a air filter would tear a hole in the paper and your filter would still be there ,the paper would block the intake and maybe even the vales.ok if a newer filter ie no dirt burnt no probs change filter and oil run for a short time (1/2 an hour )and change both ,then do it again running a bit longer 5 hours maybe to rinse out any crap taking the inlet manerfold off is a good idea too ...now if full of dirt the news is not as good (sorry)on avarge (?)a motor will last up to 1 cup of dirt!!!!cat and cummings(?)have both tryed this and with no air cleaner and drip feeding dust in to the intake 1 cup will stuff the rings bore etc etc .if mine i think i'd be pulling the head off and getting the block flushed out also the head washed down too ,ask at the shop about it i know it will cost but a rebuild will cost more
catch ya
JD Kid