Oil Bath Air Cleaner

Liberty · Post by **Liberty** » February 16, 2008, 9:55 pm

Greetings,

I Just bought an original oil bath air filter assembly off of ebay for my Slick. How should I clean it and what kind of oil should I use? I am trying to stay as stock as possible.

Thanks,
Liberty

MrEvil · Post by **MrEvil** » February 17, 2008, 6:49 am

I don't think you have to use any special oil for an oil bath air cleaner and it doesn't have to be clean oil either. My dad usually just puts old crankcase oil in them and never messes with them after that. The basic premise of an oil bath air cleaner is that you never have to mess with them. The oil in the air cleaner traps the dirt and crud before the air goes into the carb. They don't plug up like paper and gauze air cleaners do, but are a bit more messy.

DV65CustomCab · Post by **DV65CustomCab** » February 17, 2008, 8:32 am

Oil type doesn't much matter.
The oil should be replaced periodically and the screen cleaned. The oil will eventually get moisture in there that will get trapped at the bottom (water being heavier) and if never dealt with can eventually rust out the bottom of the housing.
:oops:

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » February 17, 2008, 10:56 am

Basically when you get it from eBay, take some turpentine or whatever the American equivalent of Varsol® is, and wash out the screen and the housing real good, and let it dry.

My dad also used to use the top half (without the crud) of his old crankcase oil from an oil change in there, but you can use new oil too. Same oil you use in the engine, not Gear oil or something heavy..

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » February 17, 2008, 11:01 am

i have sae 30 in mine.you can use auto trans fluid too, a bit thinner but just as effective.

Liberty · Post by **Liberty** » February 18, 2008, 5:13 pm

Thank you all, Liberty

crewzinforabrewzin · February 19, 2008, 11:50 pm

i have the origanal oil bath filter in my truck. thing drives my crazy though. dont think it matches up with my carb correctly i have a small holley carb dont believe it was the origanal, its a bit smaller then the hole in the airfilter causing it to allways slide to one side then it tips and leans a bit and smashes down on my carb linkage. i think this might be why my throttle sticks a bit and i gotta pull up on my gas pedal a little with my foot while idleing.

douglloyd · Post by **douglloyd** » February 20, 2008, 8:49 am

Definitely agree with DV65 - oil bath A/C's DO need maintenance.

When I find one, it gets a pretty thorough cleaning. Take it apart, wipe out the crud with paper towels, then run it through the parts washer or brush it down with kerosene. Once it is cleaned out, I let it dry, degrease it with whatever is handy, then wirebrush down the rough paint spots and prime it. Sand and paint however you like. I use rust block paint inside when I find any corrosion. IMO, a clean original painted Ford blue looks lots better perched on the carb than some chrome UFO from JC Whitney.

Oil bath air cleaners do a really good job in rough conditions that would clog a paper filter. The Ford 8N tractor has an engineering marvel under the hood that allows free breathing to the carb yet catches dust, small gravel, bugs and weed chaff. Better believe this gets cleaned regularly. It's like gutting a catfish - you wouldn't believe the stuff you find in there<g>

Those old farts that designed that tractor in '52 (and our trucks) really did know what they were doing, using the technology that was available at the time. Let's see - how many 'Power Stroke' F-350's will be still in use by 2048?

thanks,
Doug

Z-MAN · Post by **Z-MAN** » February 20, 2008, 9:55 am

When I had one, I cleaned it, then sprayed it with brake cleaner and then I put the oil in it. It get the crud out pretty good.

Z

Oil Bath Air Cleaner

Oil Bath Air Cleaner

Oil Bath Air Filter.

Clean it regularly