UXV 450 Oil Strainer - Is There One?

[pa-outdoorsman]

Hey guys, I completed my initial fluid changes on the new UXV 450i yesterday, putting Rotella T6 in the engine and Super Tech 75w-90 in the front and rear differentials. Also found the OEM HifloFiltro HF-138 oil filter on Amazon for about $8, so figured I'd stick with that, though I am sure there are plenty of other options that will fit. All in all the process went pretty smoothly, though I do wonder why they use a small 8mm drain bolt on the front diff but I think a 14mm (might have been 12mm) on the rear. That front diff drain is a little tough to get to, but I found that simply by removing two bolts from the skid plate, I could slide an extension bar from my socket up in there that way, which saved a lot of hassle. Also, with a drain bolt that small, it sure took a while for that thick oil to drain.

One question I have after yesterday involved whether there is an oil strainer on this machine. In the owner's manual, KYMCO has a statement in there that when you remove the filter, the oil strainer and compression spring will fall out and you should be careful not to lose them. Well, I removed my filter, and guess what, NO oil strainer or compression spring. Heck, after closely looking at the used filter (to make sure there was nothing up inside there) and the nipple where the filter screws onto the engine, I sort of came to the conclusion that there isn't supposed to be a strainer in there, because I don't think there's room for it. I mean, when you screw the filter all the way onto the nipple and the rubber gasket seals against the engine, the fitting up inside the center of the filter is probably going to come flush with the end of that nipple, right? And if you look up into the filter, there'a spring built in up there.

So, before I call my dealer and ask whether he forget something during setup, I'm asking you guys. IS THERE a strainer and spring in there on your machines, or is it all built into the filter and that's a misprint in the manual? I know several of you have commented in the past that the manual is pretty bad, so I guess this wouldn't surprise me. However, I definitely sat there for 10 minutes yesterday looking at everything and wondering...

Thanks in advance for your input. After I finished up yesterday evening, I fired the machine back up and took her for a quick spin. Seems to be running fine, and I checked this morning just to make sure there were no leaks after the changes, and all looks good!

[airshot]

    The strainer is not on the oil filter but behind the rectangle cup on the bottom of the engine held in by 4 bolts. There is an engine drain plug and also a plate held on by the 4 bolts that should be dropped and there is the screen and spring.  On a new machine don't be surprised if you find a few chips in that screen.  Being made and printed in Tiawan there use of words is slightly different than ours. I remove all the skid plates when I change oil, it gives me a good view to inspect everything while changing the oil.  I open the front and rear diffs first to let them drain, then move to the engine and filter. Sometimes I squirt some new diff lube in while the drain plugs are out just to flush anything that might be stuck in there.  make sure the engine and drive train is warmed up before draining, I normally take mine for a 5 mile ride before changing fluids as they will drain much easier. I use the syn 75-140 gear oil so it is even thicker ever so slightly.

[pa-outdoorsman]

Ah, that makes sense! I shined my light up the drain hole and I could see a mesh screen up there. But the manual didn't say anything about that. I didn't want to mess with it because I wasn't sure how to get at it.

For what it's worth, the small portion of the screen I could see looked really clean. At this point since I've already got all the fluids changed I'll just get that next oil change.

Thanks for the info!