Oil & Fuel Fuel Filter Change - Opinions?

buckle97 · Apr 1, 2004

After my recent incident with changing my fuel filter and needing advice from fellow TBN'ers on why my L3830 would not start, I got to thinking about the necessity/frequency of changing the fuel filter.
When I was reading over the steps for completing the 50 hour service, the fuel filter was not listed. I went to my dealer (Farmbelt Equipment in Brookhaven, MS) and the guy behind the service counter started gathering my parts. he threw a small filter in the box and I asked "What is that?" He said it was the fuel filter and when I responded "the manual doesn't say to change the fuel filter at 50 hours" he said "it's only $3.49, do it anyway." I felt sure he wouldn't give me bad advice, but by changing the fuel filter my tractor was out of commission for a few days extra just because I didn't know that I needed to bleed the fuel lines. Thanks to all of you I was up and running again without much headache. Plus, now I know a little more about my tractor.

What do you all think about fuel filter changes? How often? Under what conditions? Only when you know you have gotten bad fuel?

Lawrence

BobinCols · Apr 1, 2004

I had my 3010 for 210 hours and never changed the fuel filter even though I had one. Have 115 hours on the 3130 and never changed yet. As long as my site glass is clear, I am not going to change mine.

DK35vince · Apr 1, 2004

At 205 hours I haven't changed the fuel filter yet.
I may change it at my next oil change, due at 300 hours.

alvanko · Apr 1, 2004

I change mine once a year . Doesn't have site glass just spin on . Cheep insurance . Always fill the filter before installing .

Larry_T · Apr 1, 2004

I think you should change once a year.if you leave it in too long it may deteriorate. Larry

DaGoatMan · Apr 2, 2004

The maintenance schedule for Kubota products recommends changing the fuel filter at 300 hour intervals.

DaGoatMan

_RaT_ · Apr 2, 2004

I'm with you Bob. The only way dirt gets in the filter is from dirty fuel so if you take care there, your eliminating a big part of the problem. The filter itself does not deteriorate from diesel fuel but may just from physical abuse like cleaning. I suppose that after 5 years or many hundreds of hours, I will change it. I now have about 200 hours and it could not be much dirtier or cleaner then the day I first drove it. If it got dirty enough to no longer allow the needed fuel flow into the pump, then it would mean I was pouring very dirty diesel as the engines requirements are incredibly small and I suspect even a filter that is 90% ocluded would still allow enough fuel flow to operate properly. I don't feel like I'm skimping, if anything, I'm using a little common sense and caution. Rat...

JerryG · Apr 2, 2004

From all the filters that I have changed over the years, it is not dirt that is the problem. The main problem is algae that builds up in the filter over time.

5030 · Apr 2, 2004

Well:

Lets see....The fuel supplier that fills my bulk tank filters the fuel when it comes off the truck. It's filtered again when it is pumped from the tank to my tractor and the filter on the tractor filters it again. I'd think the last filter is not doing much so I'll leave it alone. I put biocide in my fuel storage tank so algae isn't a problem. I have a 5year old diesel fired pressure washer with a clear bowl fuel filter on it. It never has anything in the bowl or on the filter.

JJT · Apr 2, 2004

I change mine every 100 hours, cheap insurance. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never had to bleed my fuel lines after a filter change and I've done it 4 times.

Bird · Apr 2, 2004

John, I'm like you in that I've never had to bleed the lines after changing the filter, and I never filled the new filter before installing it either. I had to bleed the lines at the injectors twice on my B7100; once when I got a lot of water in my fuel and once when it ran completely out of fuel in the field. Never had either of those things happen with the B2710.

frank_f15 · Apr 2, 2004

GUESS there all different theories on this, but my idea is if the fuel is clean when u buy it, then the filter is just an added safety precaution. the tractor will let u know if and when it starts to get dirty and plugged. if u get some bad fuel u will know it very quick.

5030 · Apr 2, 2004

JJT and Bird:

I have a manual pump on the 5030 as well as one (I think there was) on my old 3710.

The pump on the 5030 is very similar to the one that was on my 3406 Caterpillar. The manual for the 5030 goes into great detail about bleeding the system after a filter change. I have lost pressure on the 3406 before. You just unscrew the pump and stroke it until resistance is felt. Push it down and screw it tight. Crank the motor and it should start. The fuel systems are very similar. There is a low pressure transfer pump supplying the injector pump. The injector pump brings the fuel to injection pressure. The manual pump pressurizes the high side of the system in the advent of air on the high side.

Actually, it has been my experience with the 3406 C and the new E model, that if you have enough battery, you can forego the hand pump and crank out the air with the starter motor. That works if the engine is warm or in the summer. In the winter or a cold engine, better pump it. Your battery won't stand the strain.

Bird · Apr 2, 2004

Daryl, on the B7100 and B2710, the fuel tank is high enough that it's gravity feed to the filter (they both used the same filter and in the same place, although there's a slight difference just above the filter). There was a shut off valve just before the filter, so all you had to do was turn it 45 degrees to shut off the fuel while you changed the filter. When the new filter was on, open that valve again, and on the B7100, loosen one 10mm bolt at the filter until the filter filled and a little fuel came out around that bolt (if you could call that bleeding anything). You didn't even have to do that on the B2710. Darned if I know where the air went, but when you opened the valve before the filter, the filter bowl filled up. The manual said to start it, run it 30 seconds and shut it off. I found no reason to shut it off after 30 seconds; just started it and took off.

5030 · Apr 2, 2004

Bird:

The tank on the 5030 is also above the engine. The fuel bowl has a shutoff and a bleed screw as well. Your old tractor as well as all Kubota's have a transfer pump. The fuel needs to be delivered to the injection pump at (I believe) 12 to 15 psi. To do that by gravity, you'd need a fuel tank about 15 feet above the engine. That would be hard to fill for sure.

I have to quit posting on the steel thread as well as the fuel thread. I am getting worked up. No matter what, we are going to have to pay the price.

Bird · Apr 3, 2004

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( You just unscrew the pump and stroke it until resistance is felt. Push it down and screw it tight )</font>

I understand about having a pump get the fuel to the injector pump, but don't understand about "unscrewing" and "stroking" anything. Nothing like that was mentioned in my manuals.

5030 · Apr 3, 2004

Bird:

I guess I'll have to remove a side panel on the 5030 and take a digital picture of the hand pump. It's right next to the pump itself. My 3710 had one too. Come to think of it, my little Kubota's had them. You turn the top counter clockwise, strok it until you have resistance, shove it back down and tighten it up.

JerryG · Apr 3, 2004

All of the Perkins that I have worked on over the years have a small mechanical charge pump that takes the fuel from the fuel tank to the injector pump. This pump has a thumb lever to prime the system. The small charge pump on most compacts are electric without a thumb primer.

Bird · Apr 4, 2004

Daryl, maybe I had such on my Kubotas and didn't know it. Nothing about it in the manuals. 20 years ago, when we had an Isuzu diesel car and my Dad had a Isuzu diesel in his little pickup, there was a valve you could open at the fuel filter and a plunger you could pump to pump any water out of the filter housing, and when you changed that filter, you then pumped up pressure. But that's the only time I've seen anything that sounds like what you've described.