# Air Filter / Precleaner-- recall / update / improvement



## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

Or whatever you want to call it, but today I got a package in the mail from John Deere........Hmmmm I say to myself maybe they screwed up and sent me yet anbother Free hat, as they already sent me two.

Open the box and it contains a brand new air cleaner filter element and precleaner. According to papewrwork in box.........John Deere had shipped a few tractors out which contained the wrong filter. This is new style filter is geared to the GX335, GX255 and GT245 line of machines, with engines in the following serial number range. FH601VB20993 through FH601VB79728

Wrong filter seems to have been causing black smoke and loss of power......this falls right in line with a previous post by Bontai Joe in regards to some chicks GT245 loosing power and blowing smoke.

My old filter by the way is identical to the new one I received, so even though my machine fell into the lineup of serial numbers it had the correct filter. BUT........John Deere has made yet another change. Now the pre-filter is NOT to be oiled. It is to be installed DRY. In the manual it states to use oil to saturate the pre filter, so evidently this is now a no no...........

So other than having to clean my old pre-filter of previously installed oil, I am still in good shape and have a new spare filter to boot. 

New part numbers are: Filter M150403, Pre-Filter M140295


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Better late than never to fix the problem on Deere's part.


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

The pre filter on my Cub they said not to oil. When i changed it this year i wash it and oiled it. Then i read the owners manual and it said not to oil it. So i had to wash it again:duh: At least you got a free filter:thumbsup:


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

The filter on my Deere F525 has a foam pre-filter that is supposed to be oiled and the paper element stays dry. It does a good job of catching the crud. Keeps the carb nice and clean.


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## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Chief _
> *The filter on my Deere F525 has a foam pre-filter that is supposed to be oiled and the paper element stays dry. It does a good job of catching the crud. Keeps the carb nice and clean. *


Well this is the first foam prefilter that I have ever had the occasion to have that was not supposed to be oiled. I have worked on and owned a lot of equipment over the eyars and all foam prefilters were always oiled. Even the single foam filter on my 20 year ood Jonsered brush cutter which is only about 1/2" x 1/2" x 1" in size requires oil. I have so many foama prefilters I buy the bellray synthetic (blue colored) foam filter oil or the oil that K&N filters sell which is esentially the same as Bell Rays oil.

My tractor has worked flawless since I bought it close to a year ago this month, so I will leave what I have in it as its working fine, and can see no reason this new filter or a dry unoiled prefilter is gonna improve it. Personally I think the oiled prefilter grabs more fine particles and is more efficient overall but it doies get crudded up quicker but the main paper element stays much cleaner for longer periods of time.


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

I use the Stihl filter oil on my foam filter. Looks just like the K&N oil if you ask me. You are right though, it does catch an amazing amount of dirt.


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## REJ2 (Sep 17, 2003)

*Air filter for JD 20hp Kaw.*

I too recieved a air filter and pre-cleaner. I checked my 2003 GT245 and it had the correct one already in it. REJ2.


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

She is still having problems with her GT245. Something about a few of the Kawasakis needing the carbs rejetted and some internal paassages made larger. The air filter fix didn't work in her case, and she is now looking at getting a different tractor. There was one other individual in her thread that was experiencing similar problems with his GT245. But it does not seem wide spread as those are the only 2 I have heard about in my limited forum crawling.


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## carol (Sep 17, 2004)

Hi Joe,

No, there was a third that wrote me privately but requested I keep his name confidential. 

Not to mention that the two other guys' dealers also admitted they had other tractors returned acting the same way,

Not to mention that Deere has now heard enough complaints (from somewhere) that they are looking into the matter and having some post manufacturing engineering experiments at the various dealers.

We just weren't willing to be testers at our expense. 6 times to the shop with two different tractors is a bit much to bear, especially since our particular dealer was talking about depreciating our purchase as the clock ticked despite our willingness to be patient consumer guinea pigs at our expense up to that point. 

The problem, for the others on this board, is the new 20 hp air-cooled Kawasaki engine that was redesigned this year to meet EPA specs. Older and other models without that engine aren't experiencing these issues. Also, it appears to no longer be a TGIF issue, but a design issue. Dealer personnel disagree with each other on this. 

In order to make it to the 'net, other new Deere purchasers of a model with that particular Kawasaki engine have to first be sure they are doing everything right (full throttle, no funky gas cans) to get past the first hurdle of getting the dealer to admit it's a tractor problem and not a user problem. Then, they have to have net access, let alone search the net, many of which are then dissuaded from looking further because of lack of anything coming up in a search engine. (my few-month old thread has already dropped off of google). Then, they have to know to look for tractor boards to research there. How many, in the end, are goin to bother posting? I am on the internet ALOT for various things and some of my groups with other interests, plus I'm inside babysitting my granddaughter. The average Deere user, well, has a busy life outside....like my husband. Notice he never posted  He was busy trying to mow the grass and take care of his bees 

Carol

:buzz:


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

Welcome to the forum Carol! I am glad you found our little place here in the net.  I hope you have checked out some of the compact utility tractor forums here. Lots of info and this site is a LOT more active than the other one. We also have places to post about tools, agriculture stuff and off-topic stuff.


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## Chipmaker (Sep 16, 2003)

Carol, your hubbies name is not Ted is it? 

I sure hate to hear your having problems with the Deere and that 20 hp Kawasaki. I have a JD GX335 with that same engine I bought new this time last year and have over 100 hours on it all without a sneeze. Its a dream machine that does not miss a beat.
No black smoke except on initial start up when cold, but thats it. As for power it just goes and goes and pretty hard to bog down even when cutting Bahai and Dallas and Johnson grass......

In my opinion JD should give you a complete money back or credit for the initial amount you spent on it towards a different machine of your choice and also a discount as well....Engines for the most part are not rocket science, and they have to have some clue as to what the problem is.......(John Deeres engineeers and Kawasaki engineers) and in my opinion they are looking for a easy way out at less expense to them. I had a neghbor that bought a large ag tractor brand new fully loaded and from day one it was a problem child....Not much on that tractor that did not give him problems. Poor dealer support did not help either. In the end he wound up taking JD to court and they settled on a specified amount for the hours on the machine that he actually used it (not many) and they gave him his money back and had to pay court costs as well..........

Regards


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

A couple of months more have gone by, any new experiences with the filter upgrades? Any more problems with the 20 HP Kawasaki motors? Any info from Deere on whats happening with these motors?


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