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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Replacing The Air Filter

The Journey was due for a replacement of its air filter.  The way a diesel engine sucks in air, you don't want to take any chances of letting dirt into your very expensive engine.  Plus, a dirty air filter can decrease fuel mileage.
This post will be picture heavy, with step by step photos to help the do-it-yourself folks.  The replacement is not hard at all, which I found surprising after reading comments on RV forums.

I started out with some very basic tools, a 7/16" deep socket and ratchet, a screwdriver and safety glasses (very important, there is a lot of dirt under the motor home and it all falls down...on you).

First I removed the the hanging bracket of the mud flap on the driver's side to get easy access to the air filter area.

 

Looking from the back towards the front, the large round air filter canister can be seen.  The rubber elbow is connected to the Journey's intake on the driver's side of the body.


This view shows the duct work extending upwards towards the Journey's air intake, about eight feet off the ground.


The filter canister is held in place by two large clamps with latches.  Do not unlatch the clamps at this point.


Start with loosening the clamps on the rubber elbow on the rear of the filter canister.  Loosen both clamps on the elbow and then pry it loose, it comes apart very easy.


Remove the rubber elbow and set it aside.


Here is the view with the intake elbow removed.


Next, go to the front of the air filter canister.  There are two clamps, only loosen the forward one and slide the rubber connector away.  Leave the back clamp alone.


Now completely unlatch the two latches on the clamps holding the filter canister to the mounting bracket.


Slide the filter canister forward towards the front of the chassis.


Once you've slid the filter canister forward to clear the brackets, it can be lowered to the ground back end first.  There is enough room to easily get it out.


Now you can loosen the clamp on the large nipple in the front of the canister and put it on the new filter, tighten the clamp.


A side by side comparison shows the dirty filter from the new one (it's on the left in case you couldn't figure it out...)


Take the time to clean the rubber connectors from any dirt, then lubricate them liberally with silicone spray.

Reverse the procedure, slide the new canister front end up first.  Then slide the filter canister back through the large clamps.  Don't latch the clamps at this point.  Reattach the front connection and tighten the clamp.


Here is the new filter canister loosely in place


Reattach the intake elbow on the backside of the filter canister and tighten the clamps.


Double check everything and the position of the filter canister.  When you're satisfied everything is lined up properly and tight, latch the two clamps around the filter canister body.


Reattach the mudflap and you are done.

I never did an air filter replacement of this type, but it was not hard at all.  Start to finish, including getting tools out and putting them away took me just about an hour.  I bought the filter at my local Freightliner dealer, it cost about $80.  Here is the part number in case you're interested.  It might be a little cheaper on line.


One thing I want to point out that I found.  The hooks that hold up my mudflap have worn a bit of the frame where the hole is.  Not something to worry about at this point, but something I will be keeping an eye on.


I hope this helps to give an idea of how to replace the air filter on a Freightliner XC chassis and show that RV owners can do some of their maintenance items themselves and save a bit of money.

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

16 comments:

  1. Nice procedure demo - easy to follow and as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Good job!

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  2. Who needs the manual...we have PAUL ;o))

    Great job, now we can't wait to get our motorhome so Bill can follow your instructions!!

    Really do appreciate all you share with the rest of us!!

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  3. That was a good description. It made me feel even better about letting my dealer do it:)

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  4. Thanks for the great demo. Ours has access from the rear not underneath, so ours should be even easier.

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  5. Paul (and Marti),

    Just wanted to thank you for this extremely useful demo. The word/picture combo was the best! Happy trails!

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  6. Thank You very Much Paul!

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  7. Great News!!!
    K & N makes a heavy duty air filter that is a direct replacement for the ECO-SE filter.(no modifications) It is a 38-2006S. If you go to ebay and type the number in,(38-2006S) you can find it for around $150.00
    There are two advantages to this filter.
    First, when the filter gets dirty, (K & N recomends 15mm hg) you take it out and clean it,then re-install it per K & N's cleaning instructions.
    Second, K & N's design allows much more air flow than the paper ECO-SE, so you get a fuel savings. (like the ad says...who doesn't want to save money)
    As a side note, it took me about 45 minutes to find the filter on K & N's website. Only after calling up the installation instructions on the 38-2006S did it say it was a direct replacement.
    Hope this helps...

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  8. I’m impressed that you knew just when to replace the air filter. Nice! It’s necessary for the car to perform well. But the thing is you’ll only know the right time when you regularly check on it. I guess if I own an RV too, I’ll be as attentive as you. After all, it’s just either of the two – your second home or your home.

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  9. Son and I changed the air filter on my 04 winne journey following Paul's video instructions. Had to remove tail pipe to get it out. Other than that, no sweat. Not for me anyhow. Son proudly did 90% of work. Really blessesd.

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  10. Thank you very much Paul! Your thread motivated me out from behind my computer and under my coach. I only had to move the tailpipe to the rioght a bit to clear the filter on our 34H and your step by step made this job a snap!! Thanks again...

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  11. Thanks for posting this. I just changed mine for the first time at 15,000 miles and the hoses were so stuck tight, I was sure I was doing it wrong. Two hours of tugging, twisting and sweating and it is done. I am positive that someone will be paid to do it next time.

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  15. I was antagonizing over how to do this. Thanks for the information

    ReplyDelete