John Deere oil bath air cleaner leak

[TheBartman47]

It's not over-filled, but it constantly leaks just enough to get oil all over the cup an a bit up the sides of the canister. The ring clamp is tight and I've made sure there was no debris in the way where the cup seats with the canister. Any ideas on how to stop this from leaking?

 

[Brownie450]

Can you slide the clamp around when it is tight?
I'm sure you have checked that the threads are
not "bottoming" out to prevent total tightness.
Jim

 

[Scott 730]

The lip on the canister belongs in the clamp, not above it.

Edit: I think I am wrong about this after looking at other filter housings online. Sorry.

 

[Steve in VA]

The lip on the canister belongs in the clamp, not above it.

Good spot!

 

[a49deere]

.

 

[matthies]

He has it on there right.

 

[cushman]

It's not over-filled, but it constantly leaks just enough to get oil all over the cup an a bit up the sides of the canister. The ring clamp is tight and I've made sure there was no debris in the way where the cup seats with the canister. Any ideas on how to stop this from leaking?View attachment 162051

 

[cushman]

That was a common sight when we farmed with oil bath Fords,Farmals,and John Deeres.
They are not oil tight.

 

[Jim.ME]

Common thing to be damp in that area.

You could try a 1/16 or so diameter O-ring installed up onto the housing before the cup and see if that works for you.

 

[TheBartman47]

Can you slide the clamp around when it is tight?
I'm sure you have checked that the threads are
not "bottoming" out to prevent total tightness.
Jim

The clamp doesn't slide, nor will the bowl twist, even before I get the clamp fully tightened.

 

[TheBartman47]

That was a common sight when we farmed with oil bath Fords,Farmals,and John Deeres.
They are not oil tight.

Figures... wouldn't be a John Deere if it didn't leak a little oil here and there.

 

[TheBartman47]

Common thing to be damp in that area.

You could try a 1/16 or so diameter O-ring installed up onto the housing before the cup and see if that works for you.

That's quite a large diameter for an O-ring, but I'll see if I can find such a size.

 

[TheBartman47]

The lip on the canister belongs in the clamp, not above it.

Edit: I think I am wrong about this after looking at other filter housings online. Sorry.

Yes, there is another "lip" below that large ring around the canister that is just above the clamp.

 

[Jim.ME]

That's quite a large diameter for an O-ring, but I'll see if I can find such a size.

Hydraulic shop should be able to make one for that.

Edit to add that you can buy an O-ring splicing kit to make O-rings many places. I have had a kit for years. They work ok for static O-rings, generally they are not recommended for dynamic O-rings. I have made 20-foot diameter O-rings with 3/4" O-ring stock for hydro turbine casing joints, as well as more common sizes for housings on equipment a used red MN mentions in his post below.

 

[used red MN]

That's quite a large diameter for an O-ring,

Not really, orings can be utilized to seal rear axle housing to the main center case and can be a foot or more in diameter and that isn’t even taken into account uses for orings in very large industrial equipment like bulldozers and earth movers.
Edit to add: Per the water pump that appears to be a 2 cyl. model. The intake pulses for those engines are quite enormous compared to a unit that utilizes more cylinders. To me it is no surprise that the movement of the oil in there would cause this.

 

[TheBartman47]

Not really, orings can be utilized to seal rear axle housing to the main center case and can be a foot or more in diameter and that isn’t even taken into account uses for orings in very large industrial equipment like bulldozers and earth movers.
Edit to add: Per the water pump that appears to be a 2 cyl. model. The intake pulses for those engines are quite enormous compared to a unit that utilizes more cylinders. To me it is no surprise that the movement of the oil in there would cause this.

Yes, it's a 2 cylinder... 730 propane.

 

[a49deere]

I'm in possession of 8 two-cylinder JD tractors and crawlers all with this type of oil bath air cleaner and don't have a single one that does that! You have a problem somewhere, possibly back pressure on filter blowing it out at clamp!

 

[Princeton Bill]

Have you recently cleaned he metal mesh filter element above the oil cup? If not I would recommend you do that.

 

[TheBartman47]

Have you recently cleaned he metal mesh filter element above the oil cup? If not I would recommend you do that.

Yes, a couple years ago when I first got it, I discovered a dirt-dobber nest way down past the intake stack and into the body of the unit. I took everything apart and cleaned it well. It was leaking a bit before that as well.

 

[TheBartman47]

I'm in possession of 8 two-cylinder JD tractors and crawlers all with this type of oil bath air cleaner and don't have a single one that does that! You have a problem somewhere, possibly back pressure on filter blowing it out at clamp!

Interesting... I've adjusted the tappets and still have a tiny bit of "clack" sound on one valve, not too bad but still bothers me that it isn't totally smooth. It runs great, plenty of power, and will idle at extremely low RPM if I hold the throttle all the way back, so there doesn't seem to be any compression loss issues. I'm in the middle of painting the whole tractor and am at the point where the oil bath system is next in line to get paint and wanted to have it clean before (and after) the painting.