L3130 100hr service found only 1 Air Filter!!

Tractor Dr. · Jan 9, 2010

Last night when I went to change air filters on my L3130 I got an unpleasant surprise...I found only one filter, the outer filter, no inner filter was present. The Operator Manual and my local dealer (not the purchasing dealer) says it should have an inner and an outer air filter.

I bought the tractor brand new, did the first oil change @ 50 hrs like the book recommends. After that I noticed that the oil got dirty rather quickly (not real bad, but dirty) so I changed it again @ 93 hours. Ofcourse reading the manual it recommends air filter changes @ 100 hours so I pulled off the airbox cap to have a look inside, pulled off the outer filter and to my surprise...no inner filter. Now it started to make sense why the oil was turning color so quickly.

Ofcourse my mind is wandering and panic is beginning to set in and this is where I don't know if I'm over analyzing due to the situation or if there is a real problem...please give your opinion. When I start the tractor (mind you it's 20 degrees) I can hear what is either a valve knock or hydraulic lifter knock, again not bad but is blatantly there to clearly hear. Once the tractor warms up the knock goes away no matter what RPM the engine is ran. The knock is clearly toward the backside of the engine compartment (closest to operator seat) the dealer says that set of tappets/lifters are the ones to get oil last, that coupled w/the extreme cold may be why I'm hearing the knock. He says since it goes away at warm up I likely have nothing to worry about but also said "you can't be sure". Any opinions???? Does anyone else notice a similar knocking noise at cold start???

I have no blue smoke except for the slightest insignificant puff at start up.

The dealer I bought it from was closed today (Saturday) which is why I called the next closest one. Clearly the dealer didn't catch this lack of inner filter in the pre-delivery check. What should I do?? If no engine damage then its a non-issue, however, if there is engine damage then its my word against theirs and you get into a no-win situation. I had two other small problems that should've been caught at pre-delivery that I had to call the dealer about but this one is much more serious. Not sure what to do.

Sorry for the long thread. Thanks in advance.

RickB · Jan 9, 2010

Before you get real excited, make sure the secondary element didn't come out stuck inside the primary. The newer soft-cased air filters often do that.

Next, if the safety element was missing and the primary element media was not punctured, it is all but impossible that any short or long term damage was inflicted by operating the tractor for 93 hours with what began as a new, clean primary air filter element. This would include the discoloration of the engine oil.

If the element was in fact missing, the dealer should provide a new one without charge as the tractor was supposed to be equipped with one at delivery. Expectations of anything further would be unrealistic unless the primary element you removed was compromised. Compromised means damaged, not necessarily just dirty from 93 hours of normal use.

David_Kb7uns · Jan 9, 2010

Do not think it is a big deal, on the standard L series the second filter is not there but it may be ordered from the Grand L parts list and installed into the L series to have two also. It does sound like some forgot to put the safety filter in though.

David Kb7uns

gwdixon · Jan 9, 2010

Not to worry. Agree with RickB.

Was the outer filter heavily filled with dirt and dust? If not, then forget about it. If it was filled then there was likely still not enough pulled through the filter to cause damage.

Was the post-filter intake area dusty or dirty? That would be another indication of leakage. It likely was not.

The older tractors had just one element and did just fine. The inner one is an emergency one, more or less, that probably never has to be changed (but should be serviced per the manual).

Diesel oil will get dirty in no time. Lots of compression in a diesel and always some carbon blow-by past the rings. Since yours is barely broken in there may be even more than usual.

bugstruck · Jan 9, 2010

I wouldn't have been pleased to find that either. I doubt it's of any issue though. Checked mine at 100 hours and I think I cleaned the outer filter which had a little bit of dirt/dust, not much. The inner filter looked like it was just replaced so it stayed. Tells me the outer filter catches the most of it. I don't mow or run in excessive dust all that frequently. Only when I'm digging in summer. At 140 hours none of my filters are changed and they won't get changes until I can see some need. We also have the filter alert if something gets restricted.

As for the knocking I can only tell you my experience. When I start mine, like all diesels and moreso in cold weather, it makes a bit of a racket. Yes it does sound like tappets starving for some oil and or some piston pin slap. I run it just off idle until it quiets down, about 30 seconds or so and then bring it up to 1200 +/- rpm for a bit and then to about 1500 until it's got one or two bars on the temp gauge. I don't think the process is that important but it's my method. My guess is your startup is normal unless the knocking is going on after 60 seconds in 20 degree temps.

DK35vince · Jan 9, 2010

You do not have any thing to worry about.
Many tractors only have 1 filter element so not having the inner filter with only 93 hours will not be a problem.
Oil in deisel engines turn black very quickly. Again not a problem.
Deisel engines rattle more when starting in cold weather. This is normal and again not a problem.

bugstruck · Jan 9, 2010

I wouldn't have been pleased to find that either. I doubt it's of any issue though. Checked mine at 100 hours and I think I cleaned the outer filter which had a little bit of dirt/dust, not much. The inner filter looked like it was just replaced so it stayed. Tells me the outer filter catches the most of it. I don't mow or run in excessive dust all that frequently. Only when I'm digging in summer. At 140 hours none of my filters are changed and they won't get changes until I can see some need. We also have the filter alert if something gets restricted.

As for the knocking I can only tell you my experience. When I start mine, like all diesels and moreso in cold weather, it makes a bit of a racket. Yes it does sound like tappets starving for some oil and or some piston pin slap. I run it just off idle until it quiets down, about 30 seconds or so and then bring it up to 1200 +/- rpm for a bit and then to about 1500 until it's got one or two bars on the temp gauge. I don't think the process is that important but it's my method. My guess is your startup is normal unless the knocking is going on after 60 seconds in 20 degree temps.

Tractor Dr. · Jan 10, 2010

Thanks for all of your input! I'm feeling much better after reading consistently that there should be no problems.

There were a couple posts with questions that I'll try to answer.

RickB mentioned the inner element possibly being stuck inside the outer element. When I first noticed the inner filter wasn't present I checked to see if it was stuck in the outer filter, unfortunately it wasn't there. The primary filter was sealed correctly and undamaged. It was not real dirty though it had a film of dust which is normal.

gwdixon - I briefly inspected the post air filter ductwork and did not notice a film of "dust" lining the pipe which is good. However my inspection consisted of only looking through the airbox, you can see 3 or 4 inches up the pipe and it was clean no dust residue present. I may pull the entire post filter pipe to be sure, the dealer recommended this as well. Good tip, thanks!

bugstruck - I also make a conscious effort to warm up the engine at least 2 bars on the gauge before I move the tractor. In this extreme cold (10 deg this morning) I also slowly step up the idle in phases after warm up. I think this is wise since the oil may not be circulating as well at the colder temps. Running it hard immediately after start up is not a good idea in my book, let her warm up some.

In the 93 hours I've ran the tractor there were only a few times (5 hours max) that it ran in dusty conditions. I was running a harley rake on a dry day and certain times I was in a dust cloud but that was random on and off. Most of the time I'm using it to carry firewood w/the FEL or clear a small section of my property. The last few years have been so wet we rarely had dusty conditions so I'm hoping these conditions were an advantage against any dust contamination possibilities. I've been around tractors my entire 39 years of life and never remember dual elements until the last 5 or 10 years. I remember running big JD 4wd tractors chisel plowing day after day after day in dusty conditions. When you removed the air filter its was caked with dust and there was no inner element and no engine problems.

I'm going to call the selling dealer on Monday to explain the situation and see what they say. I wonder if they'll offer a free inner filter? They may not since that is admitting the mistake and potential for being responsible for engine problems. Will let you know the outcome. Thanks again. TD

Tractor Dr. · Jan 10, 2010

BTW - Thought I'd attach a picture I took just before Christmas. This was after the first storm of the season came through. Southern Lancaster, PA got over 20 inches of snow. Talk about fun!!! TD

SPYDERLK · Jan 10, 2010

The inner filter is a very coarse woven mesh type filter that only comes into play if your outer filter gets very dirty and bursts inward. The inner filter has very little area, hence the coarseness to keep it from significantly choking airflow. Its a "birdcatcher" essentially. A catastrophic outer filter failure would hopefuly clog it immediately with caked dust and choke the engine so youd investigate. Failing to do this the dust would filter thru the coarse mesh and scour your engine.
larry