POS Air Filter - Do Your Maintenance!

[CJBROWN]

5330 miles on the bike, just got back from a big trip offroad (700 miles) so I thought I would go thru the bike.

Before I left I topped off the coolant so some went to the overflow and of course it spit it out the cap on the side cover. The coolant from the factory must have some kind of stop leak or something in it cuz it accumulates on the cap and the spit out on the case looks like chalk. So I though I would put new coolant in it while I had it tore apart. DO THIS SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. The coolant looked like mud coming out. Remove the right lower hose at the motor and it flushes real easy. Geez I'm glad to get that crap out of there.

Checked the valves per spec at 600 miles and haven't looked at them since so thought it was a good time to check them. Exhaust were still in spec but both intakes took the next smaller shim. This tells me there's some wear in the seat and could easily be caused by some fine dust getting thru the air filter. I clean it after every major ride and always find some fine dust coating the intake screen. Obvsiously this may be causing some slight wear in the intake valves. I always coat it good with Maxima FFT and grease the perimeter where it seals to the airbox. Not sure what else could be done. Moral of the story is check your valves sooner rather than later.

I have had some drips from time to time around the thermostat/Y-pipe. Give them all a snug up with a 7mm socket. Most of mine were a bit loose.

Changed out the brake fluid reservoir. Cleaned up under the seat.

Everything else looked good under the tank and seat. My main reason to post is to remind you all to do this stuff before the factory manual says to - things are liable to need attention long before the 6K recommendation.

 

[RDTCU]

And plug your steering head bearing tube ASAP.

 

[Fast1]

I've found that Twin Air air filter oil works exceptionally well and minimizes anything penetrating the air filter. Twin Air also makes an air filter
that appears identical to the stock TE630 air filter. Hall's had them in stock when I purchased a second for rotational purposes.

 

[johngil]

This is the stock coolant that came out of my 630.

 

[Logroller]

I don't know what kind of coolant was in your bike, but if Evans was being used or a similar product, the coolant turns dark with use. It doesn't mean it has gone bad, it's just a change in appearance. Their coolant is more oil like, brake oil like. Evans states that their coolant is basically good for the life of the bike/vehicle unless water has gotten in to the system. Then it would need to be changed.

If darkening is not a result of the coolant used, their could be issues.

 

[1lunger]

Not sure about the the 630 but on the 610 you need to remove a bolt on the jug to flush the system properly.

 

[RDTCU]

This is the stock coolant that came out of my 630.

Mine came out around ~6k miles and was a translucent blue. I put the Honda green premix back in it, and it came out at 10k miles still looking like new.

 

[CJBROWN]

If your coolant is transluscent and clean then you're good. I had not done anything with mine from new and I don't know if this is something the dealer adds on new-prep or if it's a factory fill. Y'all have your preferrences for coolant type, I went with G-05 coolant at 70% to 30% RODI water and it's pretty much clear liquid although a little higher viscosity than pure H20. Johngil was telling me you have to use a propylene glycol type for AMA sanctioned competition events. I would have preferred to order a gallon from Amsoil but didn't want to wait so I just picked up a premium antifreeze/coolant from the local autoparts house. I don't ride competition events so it's less of an issue for me.

My cap would accumulate brown/tan/gray gunk around fill cap seal, not sure what that is. Looks like a type of stop-leak to me. IMHO anything that is a type of solid in the coolant system cannot be good. All I'm saying is if there's any question then flush and fill with your preferred coolant. It holds just over a quart of coolant so it's a pretty minor deal but could be a big deal for engine longevity. Make sure your fan is operating by warming it up 'till it kicks on. The overflow bottle will accept coolant at temp, then draw it back into the radiator as it cools. Adding a couple of ounces to the bottle may help insure/speed this process. All of my bikes of late have had an overflow bottle, the old dirtbikes just vented to the ground. My KTM 250 would constantly lose coolant on slow going and then would indicate low in the filler. A mini overflow bottle fixed this. Normal fill level is just over the cooling plates.

My understaninding is the drain plug on the side of the motor allows draining without hose removal. The factory service manual indicates "either/or" for draining the system. I removed the right lower hose at the motor and put the garden hose in the radiator fill, ran 'till clear. Like I say, it looked like muddy water - not coolant. It did not look like oil, was not blue or green, was milky tan/light gray like dirt. I then removed the left lower at the radiator and sprayed water in it and it shot out the filler neck so I was sure it was a clean sweep of the system. Refilling took the factory specified amount (2.53 pts) so I was relatively sure there was only minor residual if anything in the cooling jacket. If you've ever looked at a disassembled cylinder you can certaily see there's not much coolant in there. If your waterpump stops or you lose your coolant they overheat instantly.

As far as the air filter, I dunno...Twin-Air filter oil or Maxima FFT - they both do the same thing. I've used the maxima stuff for dozens of years and it works they way it's supposed to. Pours out thin so you can soak the element and then squeeze out excess, then the carrier evaporates off leaving a real sticky oil that dust sticks to like a magnet. I like that it's blue so it's easy to see the element is completely covered. I use grease around the seal area to keep water, pebbles, and dirt from getting by the edge of the element. I have no idea why or how any dust can get past this. All I know is I've never seen this with a conventional bowl-shaped element like a KTM has. I get a very fine dusting on the backfire screen on the inlet. That tells me at least a minute amount of dust is going through the motor and that is never good. Kind of like what happens when you run a K&N on a car or truck = bad idea. People just eat that crap up when it's been proven time and again that a stock paper filter works better and no chance of filter oil getting on the MAS to screw it up. Fortunately we don't have this BS on our bikes.

BTW, I also pulled the plug and put it in a spark plug cleaner, brushed it off with a parts brush. For a couple of bucks I should just put a new one in there. Anyway, the bike does fire up a little easier and runs like a clock. Very happy with this machine and it's easy to work on.

 

[1lunger]

Good stuff! One thing I have done in the past, but only with the spray on oil like PJ1 was to spray inside the boot. Not a lot, just enough to get a even cover. I would clean the whole boot out every 3 rd time I changed the air filter. I could see that a very little bit of stuff would stick to the back wall of the boot. It's better now with the pre filter skin set over the in take. This way most of the air comes through that and not as much shit is pulled up through the screens. This on a 09 610. I know the 630 air box doesn't have the lower screen, but still...

 

[Kenneth Webb]

This is a repeat post for me, but I've flushed the cooling systems on all of my bikes, very shortly after buying them new. After seeing the gunk around the radiator cap on the brand new TE630 I knew something was wrong with the initial setup. I don't want that crap in my radiator! I'm running Yamaha coolamt in everything as 1) it's readily available, and 2) it's really difficult to decipher exactly what the Husky factory wants. The Castrol coolant they specify is not available here. After pulling the screw at the bottom of the cylinder, flushing thoroughly with fresh water and refilling, no problems!

 

[johngil]

Chris, I think the dust is from the breather. You have been oiling filters for decades and know what to do. The Husky breather just plain sucks ass.

 

[WickedWill]

Chris, I think the dust is from the breather. You have been oiling filters for decades and know what to do. The Husky breather just plain sucks ass.

I get a fine dust on the screen after very dusty rides.My breather is well held in and i make sure filter foam covers that sucker.The filter is greased and oiled.Might be the filters.With out going into too much detail a mate has dusted a brand new bike,not a husky.The filter let sand thru.The filter was cut open and a section of the filter was letting sand thru.The manufacturer has inspected it.It was well within it's serviceable use and properly oiled.
Over here in oz the standard filter is a twin air.I was thinking of getting a uni and see if that's any better.They are twice the price of the twin airs here.
Also swapped out my coolant.It had a horrible stench to it and was a bit sludgy.The new coolant has made no difference to when my fan cuts in.This is more frequent now the safari tank has been fitted.30 seconds at a traffic light and its on.The air temp is 25celcius[77 Fahrenheit].The good thing is once you get moving it doesn't take long to switch off.

 

[CJBROWN]

Chris, I think the dust is from the breather. You have been oiling filters for decades and know what to do. The Husky breather just plain sucks ass.

Do you suppose it's getting by the fitting in the airbox? One wouldn't think there would be dust getting into the valve cover and coming into the airbox that way.
I do notice that fitting gets greasy/dirty on the outside of it. Maybe it needs to be siliconed in there.

I woudn't suspect the filter element itself, it is a two-stage, and they are Twin-air here in the states as well. I'm not aware of an aftermarket filter for it. Might be worth getting a second one and try it though.


EDIT: now that you mention it, that breather fitting could very well be the culprit. Being inside the filter element there's certainly positive vacuum there for sure. I may try sealing it better and see what that does.

 

[johngil]

Here is a photo that shows what the problem may be.
It's just a plastic/plastic interference fit from the elbow to the airbox. Some good silicone applied from the back (outside) will probably go a long ways.
You can see the filter cage in the hole. The dust leaking in from the fitting goes straight to the intake. The filter is not covering the hole.

 

[JoiseyJanet]

I covered that hole up from the outside and ran the breather hose to a Uni filter, which I tucked in behind that area and secured to the frame.

Got the idea from Rick Ramsey when I had a TE310.

http://rickramsey.net/TE310mods.htm

http://www.rickramsey.net/TE610mods.htm

I periodically wash out the Uni filter.

I also use No Toil oil, grease and cleaner on a Twin Air filter. I tend to clean and oil the filters more frequently with the No Toil stuff. On the KTM filters, I use a filter socks to get through a multiple day rides.

Here are some pics from air filter cleaning this weekend. This is after about 4 dirty-type rides.

The inside of the filter was clean, but I forgot to take a pic.

 

[CJBROWN]

After 5 days and 700 miles of dirt my whole filter looked like the dirty part in the photo above.

 

[JoiseyJanet]

That's what nice about the filter skins for mx-type filters, especially out west. You just bring a baggie with a bunch of them oiled up and ready to go and replace them each day. The filter stays pretty clean. The skins are just like heavy-gauge stockings. I may have to make some up for the 630 for our trip to CO in July.

 

[McKay]

After 5 days and 700 miles of dirt my whole filter looked like the dirty part in the photo above.

Did its job!

 

[BiG DoM]

UNI Filters are the way to go - not sure what is presently available but they are excellent and being Australian they know about dust! I have one in my HP2 and also comes with a pre filter which helps lots. Somewhere here we did get the part number a while back for the 610/630.

 

[WickedWill]

UNI Filters are the way to go - not sure what is presently available but they are excellent and being Australian they know about dust! I have one in my HP2 and also comes with a pre filter which helps lots. Somewhere here we did get the part number a while back for the 610/630.

Uni filter part no:NU 1015ST