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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / oil bath air cleaner

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Posted By Discussion Topic: oil bath air cleaner -- page: 1 2     wilbur celander 06-01-2010 @ 4:41 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 1 Joined: May 2010 I have acquired an oil bath air cleaner and am surprised to see that the cover piece has mesh screening "buried" in it. This was unexpected. Should it be oiled or does perhaps oil bath fumes coat it. Also after how many miles should a change of oil probably be required. What is the effect of water condensation under the oil? Sincere thanks for any comments 37RAGTOPMAN 06-01-2010 @ 4:57 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1941 Joined: Oct 2009 Clean the mesh and fill with 30# motor oil to the full line.in the bottom section, you should be go to go, thats what i do with mine, I keep the regular air cleaner just for shows, KEEP ON TRUCKIN,,!!!! 37RAGTOPMAN putting the year and engine type in your question,is a plus, 40 Coupe 06-02-2010 @ 2:17 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1648 Joined: Oct 2009 I have not seen the wire mesh in a Ford oil bath air filter, neverless you should clean it and replace the oil with every oil change of the engine. Water will sink to the bottom of the oil and cause rust if left too long. 40 Coupe 06-02-2010 @ 2:18 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1648 Joined: Oct 2009 I have not seen the wire mesh in a Ford oil bath air filter, neverless you should clean it and replace the oil with every oil change of the engine. Water will sink to the bottom of the oil and cause rust if left too long. Stroker 06-02-2010 @ 3:26 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Living in the dusty Southwest rural area, we had oil-bath air cleaners on all our Ford flatheads. Our standard procedure was to service these at the same interval we replaced oil and oil filters, which was every 1000 miles. We would submerge and swish it around the upper mesh pre-cleaner section in a bucket of Stoddard solvent (modern "consumer" equivalent would be enamel thinner), and allow it to air-dry. The bottom section was cleaned (usually we had to scr*pe the dirt out of the bottom with a dull screwdriver), and re-filled to the oil level mark. We didn't oil the wire mesh, but today I'd consider lightly misting it with an aerosol like K&N's filter spray. These old-time filters were amazingly efficient. Many years after the invention of the paper filter, heavy equipment and over-the-road manufacturers stayed with the system. I still run one on my 38, and since I can't document its' existence as I lack a "build-sheet"; I'd probably lose points for it if I cared about judging. If that were ever the case, I have the miserable "oem sink-scrubber" bug strainer I can put on. One aside; though, and that is if you have ever compared the two filters at full-throttle, the oil-bath by virtue of its' greater volume, is a much more effective silencer. I've dug a lot of really abrasive stuff out of these filters, and I will never be convinced that the "bug-strainer" was anything but a business builder for factory rebuilt engines. supereal 06-04-2010 @ 11:54 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The oil bath air cleaners were better than none, but depended upon how much air actually flowed over the surface of the oil pool. We service a fleet of big trucks, and now most have paper elements, or "cyclone" units that operate like the very efficient Dyson vacuum cleaners by dropping the dirt into a reservoir. Diesels use many times the intake air of gas engines, and efficient filtering is critical to engine life. Stroker 06-04-2010 @ 2:19 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Super: I have read the same thing regarding the oil baths being more efficient at certain airflows. Today, I don't believe you can beat a good K&N or paper filter if appearances don't count. Since I was the lucky soul who got to service all of them though, I will attest to the amount of dirt they would trap. The first car we got with a paper filter on it was Mom's 57 Ford. I was really happy about having only to "tap-out" the cartridge, with an occasional replacement vs the 30 minute oil bath routine. Somehow, it seemed like "cheating". ford38v8 06-04-2010 @ 6:23 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2736 Joined: Oct 2009 Stroker, If your oil bath air cleaner is one of the four units available for 1938, it wouldn't matter if you had a build sheet or not. If available at the dealerships, an approved accessory is acceptable on the concourse without deduction, provided that its condition is as new and installation is correct. The heavy duty oil bath takes one quart of oil, and will trap 3 pounds of dirt before it overflows! Not likely to have found this filter in a city dealership, though! Alan supereal 06-05-2010 @ 9:40 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Dan: All my cars have oil bath cleaners converted to paper elements from NAPA. I agree that K&N makes fine filters, but their price is a bit steep for me. sholmes@interwest.com 11-04-2019 @ 12:19 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 1 Joined: Nov 2019 how important is it to 'oil' the air filter element on my 1946 flathead's air cleaner? i have clean oil in the reservoir; do i really need to soak the filter element in oil? i am a light-duty, weekend driver of my all-original car. the shop manual says to 'oil and drain' the filter element of my 'hat type' 1-pint air cleaner. really???

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