John Deere Easy Change cut open.

[Sayjac]

This came off E120, had ~41hours/1year. Title says cut open, really hack sawed open, can is thick. Took some time and elbow grease. Coil compression spring is stout. The element is potted directly to the nylon/plastic shaft assembly. Looks to me like it could be an M&H Puro made element. The fins visible around element are not equally spaced, run narrower to wider around it. Supposedly holds ~.8qts oil. Enjoy.

The ADBV with a spring under it.

Baseplate, outer area shaft is inlet, center is the outlet and it's not real big. It has a check valve inside it to keep oil from draining when removed, I assume.

Put the head of a nail in outlet, perfect fit ~5/16"; Could release check valve which is deeper than nail head shown in pic. Adbv can be seen below.

Media with nylon backing. The nylon is tough.

 

[JC1]

Looks good thanks for posting. What does a replacement filter cost? Kind of looks like a Rube Goldberg design, but what do I know about this application. Is there a warning label stating that you may be injured if you try to take this filter apart??

 

[Kruse]

Thanks for the filter cut. I’ve got a buddy who is a John Deere salesman and he tells me that the local customers avoid these like the plague and will not buy them locally.

 

[DuckRyder]

Interesting...

Thanks for the C&P...

The separate nylon backing is different too, i thought most of the M+H stuff used what i call the "boss" media with the fused in nylon web... Maybe champ? I'll have to go look at an SP5, can't remember wha the backing looks like... spring relic valve definitely looks Puro/M+H...

Id been wondering what these looked like, wanted to cut a new one open and do a Oa on the oil in it, bu the price is kind of hard to swallow for that...

 

[ZeeOSix]

Gotta be one of the most unique oil filter designs ever. Wonder why they went with this wild design instead of just going with a plain old spin-on design. Good C&P.

 

[mccandish]

You might already know this, but you can convert this back to a standard filter pretty easily. If you want to skip the "comedy" you can go to 2:40.

 

[Sayjac]

Looks good thanks for posting. What does a replacement filter cost? Kind of looks like a Rube Goldberg design, but what do I know about this application. Is there a warning label stating that you may be injured if you try to take this filter apart??

Replacement cost ~$40. A unique design for sure. I had/have the conversion parts ready to go, then local delivery dealer called when I told him how poor the delivery experience was ( long story, purchased from Home Depot) store owner offered a free at home mobile service. Didn't turn that down. Yeah, cutting this one open a one time deal. The service truck was a mobile shop on wheels, with a front end lift for mower and all inside. Very nice.

As for nylon mesh Duck Ryder, this is first I've seen in person but 'looks like' the nylon mesh now used on Wix XP and Plat now as shown in a recent Whip City Vid, appears backing same as used on Boss. Flat spring bypass also a Purolator 'type' bypass. Now the media type I'm not certain about but seems a better than cellulose or even a blend. You're welcome for c&p.

Gotta be one of the most unique oil filter designs ever. Wonder why they went with this wild design instead of just going with a plain old spin-on design. Good C&P.

Well, best line I saw about the Easy Change system was a comment on one of the many YT videos about converting to standard OF. Comment says, the JD Easy Change system, is some EZ change for John Deere.

 

[ZeeOSix]

You might already know this, but you can convert this back to a standard filter pretty easily. If you want to skip the "comedy" you can go to 2:40.

So it looks like only a partical oil change since the only oil that was changed (if you don't drain the sump and add new oil there) was the volume held in the "quick & easy" oil filter. Strange system.

 

[Sayjac]

^^^^^Right. The "system" only changes about .8qts when used as directed. Obviously in addition to cost, not changing all the oil anathema to bitog type folks. One can get the drain tube and replace extra oil, or extract. However, if one is going to do that, might as well get conversion parts and change over, save money. Currently, the JD drain tube and engine filter adaptor will run ~$15-16 and seem very popular. Kits with oil filter (some w/JD oil) can be purchased too. I went with the tube and adaptor to buy the filter and oil of my choosing. The engine oil capacity, ~2qts.

I'd add after seeing the oil and filter, following the JD recommended 50hr/1year service interval, seems an engine could go a long way on the system. Based on what saw, that interval pretty low.

As a google search this site will reveal the Easy Change system been discussed in detail on the lawn mower and small engine sub-forum. Most comments much as one would expect about "the system" on bitog.

All that said, I found it interesting to see the inside of the can. Wonder what cost per unit is to manufacture.

 

[thastinger]

Gotta be one of the most unique oil filter designs ever. Wonder why they went with this wild design instead of just going with a plain old spin-on design. Good C&P.

This system only changes half the oil. New filter comes with .8Qt of oil in it but the motor has a 1.9qt capacity. Even with that, I'm surprised this system isn't more popular, seems like it would appeal to older folks and people less mechanically inclined and changing half the oil capacity once a year is probably more that adequate for most homeowner mowers that see 50 hours of use in a year. Disposal seems to be a problem though.

Most of those homeowner Kawasaki motors will drop an exhaust valve seat long before partial oil changes become a problem, because if this is the way you change the oil, you sure aren't keeping the cylinder fins clean.

 

[blupupher]

I had read about these, but never paid attention to it since I don't have one.

Interesting concept that for home use would be just fine with a 1 year, 1/2 capacity change interval. For the average DIY person, this is a simple, clean way to do your maintenance.
Any lawn service with this system would definitely need to change this to a standard drain and fill system with a standard filter or they would be spending a lot of money on this setup. At a 50 hour change interval, that could be 2-3 times a month for a busy service.

I agree it appears to be a Purolator/Wix made filter (Wixolator or Purowix, hmm, what will we call it). Looks like the center tube and bypass spring are a Puro design, but the media and spring is more of a Wix style?

I had to laugh at the date being written on the top of the filter, there is a spot specifically on the side of the filter to write the date and hours on there

 

[Sayjac]

...I had to laugh at the date being written on the top of the filter, there is a spot specifically on the side of the filter to write the date and hours on there

Pretty sure that one painted on at the factory, don't think dealer had it yet. They don't stock/sell topic model. The JD service guy did similar only with a sharpie pen. Guess the label too small, not as permanent or something like that. I think it's good point about customer disposal. Oil really should be drained out before getting rid of it. Or, local oil filter recycling would be the best way, with oil drained out and recycled even better.

Saw this vid this am. about the "30 sec" system. It does come zip tied to assembly from factory. Looks like another zip went on, not necessary.

 

[mccandish]

Pretty sure that one painted on at the factory, don't think dealer had it yet. They don't stock/sell topic model. The JD service guy did similar only with a sharpie pen. Guess the label too small, not as permanent or something like that. I think it's good point about customer disposal. Oil really should be drained out before getting rid of it. Or, local oil filter recycling would be the best way, with oil drained out and recycled even better.

Saw this vid this am. about the "30 sec" system. It does come zip tied to assembly from factory. Looks like another zip went on, not necessary.

I notice the guy replies in the comments that he's going to purchase the nipple and do the conversion. If I recall, you don't have to purchase a B&S part - it's a standard size NPT nipple you can pick up at Lowes or Home Depot.

Several people also commented that it was very difficult to remove and replace the "Easy Change" filter. What a shame

 

[dwendt44]

Most of those homeowner Kawasaki motors will drop an exhaust valve seat long before partial oil changes become a problem, because if this is the way you change the oil, you sure aren't keeping the cylinder fins clean.

Seems to only work on Briggs engines IIRC. Nasty stuff lurking at the bottom of crankcase doesn't
get changed like a regular oil change would/might. Glad I opted for the Kawasaki engine.

My 2¢

 

[Sayjac]

I notice the guy replies in the comments that he's going to purchase the nipple and do the conversion. If I recall, you don't have to purchase a B&S part - it's a standard size NPT nipple you can pick up at Lowes or Home Depot.

Several people also commented that it was very difficult to remove and replace the "Easy Change" filter. What a shame

No you don't have buy the B&S part. I bought the JD adapter part MIU13767 for ~$5 shipped, Amazon, ebay....... When I checked the B&S part it was pricey.

Don't blame the guy for buying the conversion parts. He said in vid the EZ Change was $70 Canadian.

I don't know what models use the Kawasaki engine but afaik all B&S on 100 series. What the E120 is.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I think it's way too much money for .8 quart of oil and a filter. I would rather go with a premium filter and change the two quarts of oil every year and go with a $3.00 filter every couple of years. I think they made this type of filter in order to make lots of money selling them. Oil changes on mowers are so simple there really is no reason to make the filter so expensive and complicated. My riding lawn mower has a plastic drain valve that doesn't even require a wrench to remove the oil. The biggest problem is trying to catch the oil without spilling it out all over everything.

 

[Sayjac]

As I was getting ready to dispose of the EZ change OF, accidentally discovered the assembly actually comes in two parts. Lower/base part (rt) is sealed to upper/dome part (lft) with an o-ring. The visible spring with black fitting on top is the check valve assembly to hold oil in filter when not installed. Protruding part of dome piece compresses spring. Imo, a fair amount of engineering went into the design of the EZ change.

 

[RooflessVW]

IMO a genius system that should come to cars.

But I understand why people are afraid of it.

 

[IndyIan]

IMO a genius system that should come to cars.

But I understand why people are afraid of it.

It seems like changing half the oil at twice the price? Also there's not alot of free space left under the hood of most cars for a 1/2 sump capacity filter you can reach from the top?

 

[RooflessVW]

It seems like changing half the oil at twice the price? Also there's not alot of free space left under the hood of most cars for a 1/2 sump capacity filter you can reach from the top?

Not a lot of free space under the hoods of current cars. If it could be implemented economically, I'm sure it would be done. I know a company has been experimenting with it for a few years now.

Smartest way to implement it would be as a dry sump. Inlet and outlet tube stay in the car and the sump could socket right on. Filter could be integral or not.