3RRL
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Huge Kama
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Post by 3RRL on Feb 17, 2008 21:02:44 GMT -5
You guys remember when Larry started his thread about the filter minder installation? Then several others did the same thing to their tractors. Well, when Larry first posted about his, he emailed me a link to bid on one for my tractor and I got one for like $8.85 plus shipping ... about $17 bucks total. But at the time I was busy with a bunch of other projects and repairs, so I never got it installed until Larry came up to visit for that week. That was one (of several) things he did for me ... he installed the whole gizmo into my tractor. Personally, I've found keeping an eye on the air filter is one of the most important things to help your engine keep running clean and strong and prevent overheating during hot and dusty work. The Filter Minder shows you when your air filter starts to plug up so you can clean or replace it. Mine has a dash mounted indicator that is easy to spot. If your dash has room, I'd recommend looking into one. Here's a picture of it installed in my Kama 554. What a sano job he did!   Rob- |
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3RRL
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Huge Kama
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Post by 3RRL on Feb 17, 2008 21:07:55 GMT -5
First, we agreed on a location on the dash. He had to check to be sure it would fit and not run into the fuel tank behind the dash. He removed the steering wheel and cut a 2" diameter hole with a brand new hole saw into the steel dash.   Then he popped the dash mount in and checked it out. Looks good so far.   |
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3RRL
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Huge Kama
Posts: 2,027
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Post by 3RRL on Feb 17, 2008 21:34:53 GMT -5
The kit comes complete with vacuum tubing and 1/8npt fitting which you can install anywhere behind the air filter. We chose this location on the Kama 554 because it was easy to get to and tap the metal air intake tube for the fitting. Then you attach the tube to the fitting and also to the back of the dash unit.   I didn't take a video of what happens when you put your hand over the air filter intake, but you could see the yellow indicator shoot up, showing the air flow is clogged up. There is a reset button on on the bottom of it so when you change or clean the filter, it goes back down. If you didn't clean it good enough, it would still show some clogging on the scale. I thought it was a simple mod to do and definitely worthwhile. Even more simple since Larry did it for me. What a guy...thanks again my friend! Rob- |
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GuglioLS
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Jinma354 LE
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Post by GuglioLS on Feb 17, 2008 22:38:28 GMT -5
......I thought it was a simple mod..........since Larry did it for me..... HaHaHa yea those are the best kind. I even took the pictures. Noticed I cleaned the dash off too? (Doug  ) What Rob didn't mention was removing the steering wheel. We worked together doing that. Since there was no gear puller at camp. I stood on the floor boards pulling the wheel while Rob hammered the splined shaft with a punch. I knew what was going to happen when it let loose, so I prepared for the eventuality I was going to land flat on my ass. After a few whacks it popped off and I landed right in the seat. Good thing Rob installed that spring seat to cushion my landing. Oh and there are not to many precision machinists out there that would trust anyone to use a hole saw and cut out a 2" hole in the dash of their tractor. Thanks for trusting me to do that Rob, lucky me it came out looking good, otherwise it would have been my turn to empty the port-a-potty. Great mod Rob ;D this was super simple and a fun time. Larry
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3RRL
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Huge Kama
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Post by 3RRL on Feb 17, 2008 22:51:45 GMT -5
No Larry, thank you!!
You did a superb job handling that hole saw ... probably better than I could have done. At one point, before all this took place and I was wondering how to install that hole, I was trying to think how far back I needed to be to blow a hole in there with my 12 gage and have it come out about 2" round?
So you did a super good job.
I remember the steering wheel incident too, you predicted what would happen.
That was funny.
OAN...
I was thinking about that small amount of blow by I've been getting through the breather cap on my valve cover.
I thought about running a hose from the breather right to the air intake. What do you think? It would be sort of like how the EPA would want it anyway. hahaha. Only thing is what would it do to the Filter Minder reading? I would place the "T" on the air intake behind the filter minder fitting in the steel tube. Do you think I would still get a true reading then? Do you think running a hose from the breather to the air intake will be harmful?
Thanks,
Rob-
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GuglioLS
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Jinma354 LE
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Post by GuglioLS on Feb 18, 2008 2:07:54 GMT -5
......................OAN... I was thinking about that small amount of blow by I've been getting through the breather cap on my valve cover. I thought about running a hose from the breather right to the air intake. What do you think? It would be sort of like how the EPA would want it anyway. hahaha. Only thing is what would it do to the Filter Minder reading? I would place the "T" on the air intake behind the filter minder fitting in the steel tube. Do you think I would still get a true reading then? Do you think running a hose from the breather to the air intake will be harmful? Thanks, Rob- I remember us discussing that. Thinking about it, I would not do it for the following reasons - 1. The filter minder will not give a true reading. 2. Over time, the oil mist will gum up the intake manifold and intake valves 3. There would be suction on the crank case pulling out more vapor and fumes exacerbating the problem. If the crank case blow by mist is troublesome, you may one day consider installing a mist eliminator. It's a device with a sponge like filter housed in a canister that collects oil mist, as the filter saturates, the oil drops back down into the crank case. Something like that might be better and keep the area clean of oil residue. Some of the equipment I work on have them installed on the exhaust of rotary vane vacuum pumps. The ones I have access to are a little tall you could get one to work with some modifications. www.sisweb.com/vacuum/sis/oilmist.htmLarry |
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3RRL
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Huge Kama
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Post by 3RRL on Feb 18, 2008 13:53:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply Larry.
I checked that link out and saw how tall they are. I'll have to measure how much room I have under the hood and get one if it fits.
I probably need to check the rings, but man, that is just another thing to do when I don't need any more projects. Maybe a Summer project?
The Kama still runs very strong with no apparent loss of power or revs. It starts to blow by after running a long time and gets hot. But I realize I should get to the bottom of it. It has always had some blow by coming through the breather cap, but I've noticed it more lately.
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