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jeepwm69

Possible to disassemble air filter screen (TRX300)?

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These were in my bucket o diesel I had a bunch of stuff soaking in.  They were nasty but a new one is about $100, so I figured I'd try to clean them up.

 

Anyone know how they are assembled?  Anyone have any luck taking one apart to clean it? 

 

I've soaked in diesel, then run through the parts washer, then hosed out with starter fluid. 

 

They look "pretty clean" but given that the engine is going to suck any dirt left in them right into the carb/intake, I'd really like to make sure that I get them spotless on the inside.

screens.JPG

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I've been down this road and it doesn't work out good IME.

 

Long/short is acid. I used Hydrochloric (Muriatic) and soaked for a few minutes to remove all the corrosion and flake.

I then cleaned with soap, water and air compressor to remove the acid. Finished with a coating of air filter oil for anti-corrosion.

It worked but it didn't work out well enough to make it worth the time, effort and results.

 

I also made a replacement "cage" out of PVC and bendable wire.

That even allowed me to put a larger foam air filter in. I would go that route if it's not a customer bike. Best cost to performance IMO.

 

Edit: After everything I did the stock cage looked great but (3?) years later the screen had begin to rust again. Metal on the inside on the intake tube is a bad design. I would take this opportunity to get rid of that potential failure point.

Edited by oh400ex
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17 minutes ago, oh400ex said:

I've been down this road and it doesn't work out good IME.

 

Long/short is acid. I used Hydrochloric (Muriatic) and soaked for a few minutes to remove all the corrosion and flake.

I then cleaned with soap, water and air compressor to remove the acid. Finished with a coating of air filter oil for anti-corrosion.

It worked but it didn't work out well enough to make it worth the time, effort and results.

 

I also made a replacement "cage" out of PVC and bendable wire.

That even allowed me to put a larger foam air filter in. I would go that route if it's not a customer bike. Best cost to performance IMO.

 

Edit: After everything I did the stock cage looked great but (3?) years later the screen had begin to rust again. Metal on the inside on the intake tube is a bad design. I would take this opportunity to get rid of that potential failure point.

Yeah I thought "just get a UNI filter" but I hate to toss them.

 

Happen to have a pic of that PVC and bendable wire?  Sounds interesting.

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I would guess they are crimped and or spot welded , not made to come apart , but I have never tried 

Try vinegar and some people say mix salt with the vinegar , never tried salt mix , vinegar dissolves rust well 

 

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yes, they are crimped ^^^ never heard of anyone soaking one before, the foam filter should stop just about all the crud unless the bike was sunk, i would think spraying it and using compressed air, but those ... i think i would replace them, and avoid any chance of the crud making its way into the engine. 

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1 hour ago, _Wilson_™ said:

yes, they are crimped ^^^ never heard of anyone soaking one before, the foam filter should stop just about all the crud unless the bike was sunk, i would think spraying it and using compressed air, but those ... i think i would replace them, and avoid any chance of the crud making its way into the engine. 

 

Well you know what kinda crap I buy, and you know I don't like to throw away anything!  LOL

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I would remove all of the rusted screen from the end caps, soak the end caps in vinegar & neutralize them after brushing all of the rust off of them, then wrap the caps with stainless steel mesh (search eBay, you can buy any density of mesh ya want) and apply JB-weld original formula to the overlapped screen seam and end cap seams to hold the mesh in place and seal it. Allow the JB-weld to fully cure for 48 hours minimum before installation of your new filter screen.

 

You can paint the end caps with clear epoxy rod finish to insure that oxygen does not ever attack those surfaces again. You're a pretty darn good DIYer, so ya probably ought to stock some of this stuff anyway.... you'll find a gazillion uses for it!

 

https://voodoorods.com/products?keywords=diamond+II+epoxy

 

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Honestly that's a great idea.  Getting rid of the old screen will let me clean the crap out of the core, and then I can re-wrap with new screen.

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6 hours ago, jeepwm69 said:

Yeah I thought "just get a UNI filter" but I hate to toss them.

 

Happen to have a pic of that PVC and bendable wire?  Sounds interesting.

 

I feel your pain on tossing something that can function again.

 

Any metal painted or otherwise has the possibility of flaking rust into the intake while plastic would potentially fall apart but then what's going into the intake (in that worst case scenario) is soft material. I think it's the smartest move to replace with a new cage.

Far as I remember, every UNI I have put in still needs the cage to keep it from folding in on its self.

 

No pictures but I do still have the bike (It's still in the family anyway)

I might get a picture some day but it was just a 4 inch long piece of thick PVC with some holes drilled in it and the wire was threaded through the holes and bent into the shape of the filter cage. It was just some ground wire from Romex if I remember. I put a bigger UNI off something else in the bike. Just working with what I had on hand sort of deal.

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The UNI I got for a 350 Foreman had a wire spring inside of it to keep the foam from collapsing.  Do the 300 Uni filters not have the same?

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14 minutes ago, jeepwm69 said:

The UNI I got for a 350 Foreman had a wire spring inside of it to keep the foam from collapsing.  Do the 300 Uni filters not have the same?

 

They probably do.

I put mostly stock filters back in utility bikes so my UNI experience is mostly sport stuff. The UNI I put in with this home-made cage wasn't bought for the 300.

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2 hours ago, jeepwm69 said:

The UNI I got for a 350 Foreman had a wire spring inside of it to keep the foam from collapsing.  Do the 300 Uni filters not have the same?

 

no, jeep  the 300 don't, they slip over the oem cage. 

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we always soaked them in gas ... then just hit them with high pressure water, and air dry, the rust issue with those has me baffled, maybe soaking in diesel messed them up along with what other parts you had with them ? how long were they soaked ? I've never seen one rusted up like those are. why honda didn't go stainless or galvanized mesh is odd, after all they build the best bikes but still cut corners, the drum brakes for one. lol! 

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13 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

we always soaked them in gas ... then just hit them with high pressure water, and air dry, the rust issue with those has me baffled, maybe soaking in diesel messed them up along with what other parts you had with them ? how long were they soaked ? I've never seen one rusted up like those are. why honda didn't go stainless or galvanized mesh is odd, after all they build the best bikes but still cut corners, the drum brakes for one. lol! 

 

Ha, they've probably been soaking in diesel for a year.  That said, they were horrible when I dropped them in the bucket.  Rusted and covered in mud/gunk.

 

They're actually very clean now compared to how I got them (as usual, in a big load of parts).  Just not clean enough to suit me/ risk putting them on an intake of a fresh motor.

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hm, rusted before the dunk, I'd say they had been on a bike that was sunk at one time, but i would still go for a new one, that just me, no need in chancing that fresh rebuild, air filters i will not chance, well those, fuel, and oil (life of an engine) but 1st I'd try what shade said sand blast, and see how much mesh gives away. 

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If you are dead-set on bringing these back to life use Loctite Navel Jelly.

Phosphoric acid based cleaner but not as aggressive as concentrated (Prep and Etch)

Paint the pink goo all over it, shove in a zip top and wait a few hours. Acid is the only way to clean these properly.

 

Finish with a dip in very warm lacquer (or something similar)

If it's hot enough when you dip (both the part and the product) it wont close up the holes on the screen and restrict flow.

 

I don't know what product number to look for but this type of thing is what I would look to replace with if I wasn't going to cheap out and make it myself.

 

 

 

YOHA3EWK86T8GJAW-product-primary.jpg

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When dealing with old crap like this (let's call them, stuff that Shadetree would throw away, LOL) more often than not, I end up losing patience and/or ruining the item and tossing it anyway.

 

I'll experiment a bit.  If I find a way to fix them, I'll post up what works.  If I don't, I'll toss them, and yall can make fun of me.  LOL

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I would t take the chance. I’d just toss it, save urself the frustration & either get a used one in great shape or the uni with a spring, or like the plastic one posted above. Some things I just won’t take a chance with. Sucking crap into an engine is one of them..

 

my 2cents..

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come on jeep, we've all seen what patch jobs will get you, NO WHERE, lol but at least you can say it's not a china parts haha! tires you patch, intake air filter systems you don't chance.... you've had to have seen some really strange patch jobs working at that grainery, and don't even say you haven't ! 

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Wally World sells cleaning vinegar—works great to remove rust; rinse in a high pH solution made from a few tbls of hot tub chemical. Dry with hair dryer

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