Air Brake Air Filter Maintenance

[chasfm11]

Today, I completed the replacement of the Haldex dessicant and coalessing filters on my air brake system. The package that I purchased for this task also included the exhaust valve and a new exhaust port. All the steps in the procedure went easily save one - the exhaust port replacement.

Three small bolts held the old exhaust port in place and I thought when I removed them, separating the part would be fairly easy. In the end, I had the physically hammer the port fairly hard, splitting it to get it to release from the metal. The plastic appeared to have melted against the metal seat.

The new package contained a gasket which was to be installed between the new port and the heater above it. There was no old gasket. So here is my question:

1. Was the gasket an engineering change after my coach was built 4 years ago? Perhaps others experienced the melting plastic problem and this was the fix.
2. I bought the RV with 27K miles on it. The air filter change was due at 24K. One of the reasons that I did it now (35K miles) was that I had no proof that it has been done on schedule t and didn't want to tempt fate any furter. If the maintenance was performed on time, what is the likelyhood that the gasket was included in that replacement package but not installed?

By the way, there was no sign of water or contamination on any of the parts so I still have no way to know if this was a completely unnecessary maintenance action. I'll just sleep better now, KNOWING that it was done.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks,

Charlie

[chasfm11]

Today, I completed the replacement of the Haldex dessicant and coalessing filters on my air brake system. The package that I purchased for this task also included the exhaust valve and a new exhaust port. All the steps in the procedure went easily save one - the exhaust port replacement.

Three small bolts held the old exhaust port in place and I thought when I removed them, separating the part would be fairly easy. In the end, I had the physically hammer the port fairly hard, splitting it to get it to release from the metal. The plastic appeared to have melted against the metal seat.

The new package contained a gasket which was to be installed between the new port and the heater above it. There was no old gasket. So here is my question:

1. Was the gasket an engineering change after my coach was built 4 years ago? Perhaps others experienced the melting plastic problem and this was the fix.
2. I bought the RV with 27K miles on it. The air filter change was due at 24K. One of the reasons that I did it now (35K miles) was that I had no proof that it has been done on schedule t and didn't want to tempt fate any furter. If the maintenance was performed on time, what is the likelyhood that the gasket was included in that replacement package but not installed?

By the way, there was no sign of water or contamination on any of the parts so I still have no way to know if this was a completely unnecessary maintenance action. I'll just sleep better now, KNOWING that it was done.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks,

Charlie

[tom wilson]

i change my midland-haldex coalescing filter every 3 years and always find dirt and moisture on the filter. i have never changed the big screw on filter because it is always clean and dry. spartan recommends only changing the big filter if it is wet, dirty, or oily. i guess i need to take the screws out of the bottom and see what condition the valve is in? thanks for the info. 1996 kountrystar

[Canuck]

Charlie,
My FL chassis was manufactured in Nov. 2001. I changed the two filters and port this past spring and the port was difficult to remove. The one I removed had the remains of a gasket on it. It looked as if it might have been made from heavy paper of some description. I installed the new port and gasket and it continues to work well. I had a dickens of a time getting the filter unscrewed from its base. I had to purchase a chain wrench inorder to be able to get enough torque to break it loose and working in those cramped quarters didn't help either. Did you have a difficult time loosening your filter? What did you "grip" it with?
Canuck
ps. Did you get your water pump working?

[chasfm11]

Thanks for your information, Canuck. I had gotten a set of three strap wrenches at Sears and the largest one was all the leverage that I needed to get my cannister off. To help with the cramped quarters, I used my two rear leveling jacks and could actually sit up underneath to do part of the work. My gasket actually went underneath the heater coil, fitting inside of the space for it rather than being trapped by the port.

My water pump is working better than ever now. The system seems to hold the pressure longer and I have much better flow. I think that pushing compressed air into the tank line must have helped somehow. I may have been sucking some air at the pump input connection, too. I'm not sure exactly what made the improvement but am glad that it is fixed.

Charlie