Yet Anouther Kubota BX Fuel Filter Relocation

dandeman

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BX2230, LA211 FEL, RCK60B Mower, GCK60BX Bagger; Ford 4000, bush hog, blade, etc
Aug 9, 2013
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18
Chapel Hill, NC
www.dan-de-man.net
Yet Another Kubota BX Fuel Filter Relocation

I seen many posts & photos of people relocating the "PIA to get to" 1st fuel line filter ahead of the electric fuel pump underneath on the Kubota BX tractor. Here is another one!.

My BX and use of the tractor in the woods where sticks and stuff take direct aim at anything hanging low :):eek: on the tractor gave me the challenge to find a safer, higher, but not so high to cause fuel feed problems, out of the way location for the filter.

I did not want to use any part of the removable front end loader vertical mount of course and thought about drilling a couple small mounting holes for a fuel filter bracket on one of the fixed mounts that FEL attaches to. But after looking at where I wanted the holes, it would have dictated removing the fixed FEL mount to drill the holes. After looking at what it would take to even remove one the fixed mounts (removing the floor pan) I decided to look for a plan "C".

That's when I noticed the bolt in the front left hand corner of the floor plan and the beefy enough steel underneath it for mounting a custom made (of course!) bracket for the fuel filter.

To avoid concerns about the height of the filter at this location in relation to the fuel tank, I kept it low as possible, but with enough room the get the bowl and filter off. As shown by the fuel in the vent line, the fuel level in the tank is plenty high enough to fill a newly installed filter and purge any remaining air out the filter bleed port. It also turns out that the filter at the height shown is at the high point of all the added fuel line, so opening the vent does a good job clearing the lines of any air.

I had a few stumbles when initially starting the engine the first time as it turns out the filter bleed port does not get all the air out of the top of the filter housing and while driving around on some hilly ground I would see an air bubble come out of the filter and of course the column of fuel in the clear bleed line would move down to further replace the air that just came out.

One question still remains that hopefully someone here can answer about the filter shown. It is the Kubota 15521-43015 filter which I found in some parts listing is used on the L and M series Kubota tractors.

I found and read the opeator manuals for those tractors trying to find out:
a) Where is the filter bleed port line connected to on those tractors?
b) The filter has two "ON" positions with the manual showing after bleeding the filter, putting the valve on the "top" ON position. What function is different in the filter when the valve is turned all the way to the left "ON" position.

I did see one comment stating that the filter bleed is tied into a fuel tank vent line, which I guess could work if the tank is high enough in relation to the filter to avoid the diesel pump (or second electric pump as on the BX) from sucking air in through the vent line if left open to the atmosphere.

Before I took the filter apart, I thought one of the "ON" positions would have closed off the air bleed port. But on mine the port enters directly into the top inside of the filter housing. Either "ON" position allows fuel to run out the vent port. That is why I ran the vent tubing up high on the tractor (above full tank fuel level) then installed a valve to close the line off after air purging the filter as shown in the first photo.

Would appreciate any info from others with experience with this particular filter housing. It a nice unit! and thanks to all who have shared their photos and ideas on the use of this particular unit.

Dan
 

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dlsmith

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BX2230, LA211
Nov 15, 2018
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Goshen, IN
Good looking installation!

I have been considering a similar mod on my 2230.

Did you install the filter inline between the tank and pump, or between the pump and the engine? Just curious, since that would be a quite long route from the tank to the filter and back to the pump.

I see you put an extension on the exhaust similar to what I did.
 

dandeman

Member

Equipment
BX2230, LA211 FEL, RCK60B Mower, GCK60BX Bagger; Ford 4000, bush hog, blade, etc
Aug 9, 2013
166
2
18
Chapel Hill, NC
www.dan-de-man.net
I put the new filter inline (between the tank and the electric fuel pump) as it was with the original Kubota inline filter.

You are right on the added line length.. I bought 8 feet of 5/16" ID fuel hose and to my surprise it took all of it to relocate the filter to the location shown. Part of that length was used to keep the fuel lines away from vibrating/rotating parts.. Where the fuel lines enter to the under side passes quite close to one of the rear motor mounts, but there's room to cable tie it safely out of the way and similarly staying clear of the drive shaft..

Following the path of the two existing sheathed hoses that come up to the left side of the engine and cable tieing the added fuel lines to those is a good path to follow.

Once all the air was bleed out of the lines, no problems with fuel feed to the injector pump. I think Kubota's mounting the electric fuel pump as low as possible on the tractor was a good idea and the pump apparantly has more than enough vaccum pull on the intake side and adequate pressure feed to the injector pump.

Yep the exhaust extension is really needed to keep the FEL from turning black where the exhaust would normally blow on it.. I cut a section out of a standard 90 degree EMT elbow for the extension and welded a stainless nut onto the extension pipe that a stainless bolt (never seizes) threads in. The bolt's tip was ground to a tapered sharp point that fits into a small hole I drilled into the Kubota exhaust pipe. Makes it easy to take it off when the engine wrap around front/side panels need to be pulled off for maintenance. Loosen the extra lock nut you see, back out the bolt and it slides off..
 

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GeoHorn

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M4700DT, LA1002FEL, Ferguson5-8B Compactor-Roller, 10KDumpTrailer, RTV-X900
May 18, 2018
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Texas
Re: Yet Another Kubota BX Fuel Filter Relocation

Would appreciate any info from others with experience with this particular filter housing. It a nice unit! and thanks to all who have shared their photos and ideas on the use of this particular unit.

Dan
Well, one thing is that the 90-degree exit fitting is only a “press fit” and will eventually vibrate loose and leak (unless you bump it loose first). When that happens, drain it, clean it with electronic cleaner or acetone and JB Weld it.