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tbbg II · 08-18-2015, 05:54 PM

I don’t know which forum is the best place for this, so I’ll put it in the Newmar forum. I just replaced a bunch of filters on my Spartan K2/Cummins ISM/Onan 12.5kw generator. I now understand, in part, why the service places charge so much for these services. I did buy OEM filters from the cheapest places I could find them and spent some $600 on the parts.

First, let me say for a couple of them I engaged my nephew, a diesel mechanic, to help. He is stronger than I and has some better (bigger) tools that were needed for the brake air filter.

The fuel filter has a water sensor and an air/water purge. These connections must be removed prior to filter removal. Removal of the air/water purge fitting drains all the fuel in the filter. Be prepared to collect it or mop it from the floor and frame members. Otherwise, a simple filter wrench was all that is required. I have a fuel prefilter, but saw no reason to attempt this as there were no apparent particles and the prefilter was intact. It looked to be very involved and I understand there may be a couple additional orings required that are not supplied with the replacement.

The engine air filter was checked and found to be acceptable. Good thing as I saw no way to get the thing out of the compartment. Didn’t see any way to get the thing out due to clearances. I know some think the filter will time out. I doubt it as the new one I bought from Racor was 5 years old when they shipped it!

The brake air filter took both of us to remove. He was underneath with a strap wench, I was above with same. Once it broke free, there were no further issues with removal and installation of new (with silicone grease applied to o ring and gasket) was easy. The old filter was a bit rusty and we did spend some time with a shop vac to ensure no rust particles entered the system.

I decided to assay the coolant before replacing the DCA equipped filter. It looked to be fairly accessible but somewhat hidden by the tag axel. At this time I have little desire to have the system flushed and replaced with OAT fluid since I have the DCA filter in hand.

I decided against the hydraulic power steering and the transmission filter because the mileage simply wasn’t close and it is an unpleasant task and required capturing and replacing quarts of fluid.

Oil filter has been done professionally a few thousand miles earlier. I may do this in the future, but it is not required at this time. I will sample the oil and get it assayed to gain the information provided.

Replacing the fuel and air filters on the Onan were straightforward. Oil filter was also accessible, but was changed recently. A small amount of fuel drained while replacing the fuel filter, but it was not excessive and easily cleaned.

I can say I am pleased with the result. I know it was done right

hillboy · 08-20-2015, 04:04 PM

When you say 'Brake filter' do you mean the air dryer?

tbbg II · 08-21-2015, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hillboy

When you say 'Brake filter' do you mean the air dryer?

Yes. Sorry for any confusion.

tbbg II · 09-02-2015, 09:00 AM

To add to the continuing saga of deferred maintenance on an older bus, I decided to have some of the fluids analyzed. I chose JT Lubricant Services, partly because of the good reviews on this site.

I sampled the engine oil, the transmission fluid and the coolant on a Wednesday. I was able to mail USPS priority envelop the same day. The actual lab is pretty close to where I live, so they arrived on Thursday, the next day. I received the oil analysis report on Friday, transmission on Saturday and coolant on Monday. In my opinion, that is spectacular response! But even more amazing was the advice I received from Tom Johnson, CEO (no relation). He called early on to address I question I had with logistics and then further explained the analysts’ remarks. I did not know what transmission fluid is in the Allison nor do I know the coolant type. After these discussions, I decided to run the engine oil another year (it assayed fine), do a switch to a TES-295 fluid in the transmission (yikes!) as the current fluid was testing low viscosity and add some dca-4 additive to the coolant.

Switching to a transynd transmission fluid will be expensive as the Allison will require a double change since some 20% of the fluid remains trapped in the transmission.

Oh, the coolant filter is not all that accessible. I can see it, but my arms are not long enough to reach the petcock to close it prior to filter removal. I’ll see what Spartan can do for me in a couple weeks.