Oil Bath Air Filter Works Well

[55 Fargo]

I discovered today how well my oil bath breather is doing it's job.

It had crud, small pebbles and flies and dirt trapped in the oil:D.

I last cleaned it 2 years ago:o

The filter seems to work well, was going to replace with a paper type disposable kind, but will keep this 1 in service, as I live on a gravel road......

[Mark D]

I cleaned and filled my oil bath filter three weeks ago with my oil change. New to this sort of thing as I've onlyhad the car for a few months, so I pulled the filter cap off a day ago to check the oil. What I found was a nearly half empty reseroir... Where'd it all go? I topped it off again and added a little STP oil treatment this time as it's quite abit thinker than the oil in hopes that it will keep it from being aspirated into the car. (not sure thats such a bad thing). by the way I checd to make sure the bath is seated well on the card and that the cork gasket was in place.

I'll monitor it more often in hopes of determining whats going on.

Mark

[55 Fargo]

I cleaned and filled my oil bath filter three weeks ago with my oil change. New to this sort of thing as I've onlyhad the car for a few months, so I pulled the filter cap off a day ago to check the oil. What I found was a nearly half empty reseroir... Where'd it all go? I topped it off again and added a little STP oil treatment this time as it's quite abit thinker than the oil in hopes that it will keep it from being aspirated into the car. (not sure thats such a bad thing). by the way I checd to make sure the bath is seated well on the card and that the cork gasket was in place.

I'll monitor it more often in hopes of determining whats going on.

Mark

It calls for #50 oil on temps above 0, so adding a little STP could be the ticket....

[BobT-47P15]

Hopefully you didn't overfill it initially. I think there is a "fill to here"

mark in there. It doesn't take a whole lot of oil.

[Fluid drive]

It is true that an oil bath filter seems to be 'trapping ' a lot of foreign material but they rank only in the 80 percent PPM efficiency range. A paper filter will strain smaller particles of grit (maybe we shold let those through if we are trying to seat Hastings rings in a Ford V-8!) in to the 90 percent + range. There is another added advantage; that oil bath is a power robber! I have converted many oil bath equipped cars by removing the copper mesh, making a couple of donut shaped pieces of aluminum to fit inside the original housing, and installing a paper cartridge. You will notice an increase in horse power and it will preserve your engine too!.

If you take your breather with you and visit your local NAPA store the counterperson will fit a filter to your filter housing for you.

Fluid Drive

[Niel Hoback]

If you make that oil thick enough, it will act like a "hydraulic choke". Thats why I went to a paper element.

[55 Fargo]

It is true that an oil bath filter seems to be 'trapping ' a lot of foreign material but they rank only in the 80 percent PPM efficiency range. A paper filter will strain smaller particles of grit (maybe we shold let those through if we are trying to seat Hastings rings in a Ford V-8!) in to the 90 percent + range. There is another added advantage; that oil bath is a power robber! I have converted many oil bath equipped cars by removing the copper mesh, making a couple of donut shaped pieces of aluminum to fit inside the original housing, and installing a paper cartridge. You will notice an increase in horse power and it will preserve your engine too!.

If you take your breather with you and visit your local NAPA store the counterperson will fit a filter to your filter housing for you.

Fluid Drive

Okay FD, , sounds like you have a case. Anyone else care to add to this, in support or to refute.

I am interested in the best possible scenario with the air filter, whether I keep it stock, or convert or use an after market with throw away fliter....

[greg g]

Why is it that convetional wisdom says this filter or that filter will inceas hP. I have un many cars and trucks with no filter at all and can not "feel" any difference. I suppose super accurate instruments might show a time to RPM increas or something such but I believe most of that stuff is over hyped. I do kow that my home made dual carb filter does yield better fuel milegae that those little chinese 4 inch dodads, but I can;t feel any diffference in the way the car drives.

The air path within the filter prevents air from actually travelling through the oil. the pupose of the oil is to trap and hold stuff that falls out of the air stream as it makes a sharp turn just above the surface of the oil, hence the do not over fill warning.

The oils other purpose is to be lifted as a vapor to constantly cause there to be droplets of oil on the mesh and horse hair of the filter element. The droplets are a further trap for small debris in the in the airflow, before it goes throughthe mesh. Droplets with pieces of dust will then drop into the oil freeing the contaminant to fall to the bottom and releasing the oil to again form a mist.

And since there is not much deisel soot, coal ash, dirt road dust, cinders and other stuff that was in the air or on the roads back in the 40's, they likely are just as good now for feeding clean air into the engine.

[TodFitch]

Okay FD, , sounds like you have a case. Anyone else care to add to this, in support or to refute.

I am interested in the best possible scenario with the air filter, whether I keep it stock, or convert or use an after market with throw away fliter....

I do know from reading the factory service manual that I had for my 1963 Dodge D200 that oil bath air filters were used on extreme service vehicles after passenger cars and light duty trucks switched to paper element type filters. Not sure if that was due to better filtration (capturing smaller particles) or if it meant that it did not clog immediately in a dusty environment.

[RobertKB]

I have the original oil bath system on all my flatties. I see no reason to go to a paper filter and I drive on some gravel as well. My '53 has the original engine with nearly 98,000 miles on it and it runs great. I also like the fact that I am still using the technology the car came with. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!

[Don Coatney]

You will notice an increase in horse power Fluid Drive

Do you have a way to measure this horsepower increase? If not how did you "notice" this increase?

[Fluid drive]

Anyone who drives a vehicle regularly will develope a sense of how that vehicle performs. It may be a perceptive difference on an often traveled hill or a little more power at take off. Regardless of all the skepticism I was only offering a suggestion that I hope to be helpful and it sure isn't hard to give it a try.

F.D.

[Captain Neon]

Anyone who drives a vehicle regularly will develope a sense of how that vehicle performs. It may be a perceptive difference on an often traveled hill or a little more power at take off. Regardless of all the skepticism I was only offering a suggestion that I hope to be helpful and it sure isn't hard to give it a try.

F.D.

The oft spoken of, but never quantified, butt-dyno.

[Jim Saraceno]

My car doesn't have the oil bath type air cleaner. It has the wire mesh that looks like a Brillo Pad. You're supposed to clean it by immersing it in gasoline, letting it dry, then immerse it in oil then letting it drain.

Both procedures are a pain in the neck. I wish I had an oil bath air cleaner.

Anyone have one they want to sell?

[55 Fargo]

My car doesn't have the oil bath type air cleaner. It has the wire mesh that looks like a Brillo Pad. You're supposed to clean it by immersing it in gasoline, letting it dry, then immerse it in oil then letting it drain.

Both procedures are a pain in the neck. I wish I had an oil bath air cleaner.

Anyone have one they want to sell?

I have 1 from a 1951 Plymouth, a little different shaped, it's your s for the price of postage let me know via PM.

[Mark D]

Just checked it again and it's dry after only 65 miles of back road use. And yes I filled it to the "fill" marks inside the reservoir... There's no holes in the reservoir. Carb seems clean too. Underside of the filter looks clean as the day I washed it up with a combo of brake cleaner & kerosene... This is baffling me.

[55 Fargo]

Just checked it again and it's dry after only 65 miles of back road use. And yes I filled it to the "fill" marks inside the reservoir... There's no holes in the reservoir. Carb seems clean too. Underside of the filter looks clean as the day I washed it up with a combo of brake cleaner & kerosene... This is baffling me.

If it ain't leakin, and the base of the filter and carb is clean, than you must be burning it.

Keepin the top end nice and lubed like a 2 stroke.

I have no ideas on this, mine never does that..............

[RobertKB]

Anyone who drives a vehicle regularly will develope a sense of how that vehicle performs. It may be a perceptive difference on an often traveled hill or a little more power at take off. Regardless of all the skepticism I was only offering a suggestion that I hope to be helpful and it sure isn't hard to give it a try.

F.D.

This is true. I always notice my car runs better after being cleaned when it has been particularly dirty. Maybe this is my mind playing tricks but I swear it is true!

[RobertKB]

Just checked it again and it's dry after only 65 miles of back road use. And yes I filled it to the "fill" marks inside the reservoir... There's no holes in the reservoir. Carb seems clean too. Underside of the filter looks clean as the day I washed it up with a combo of brake cleaner & kerosene... This is baffling me.

That is very strange. I can drive my cars for thousands of miles and still have lots of oil. Unfortunately, I have no idea what is causing your problem. Can anyone else help My48Ruby out?

[oldodge41]

Just thinking out loud here. possibilities for oil consumption from air cleaner.

1. Filter plugged creating a larger than normal vacuum draw on the oil pool.

2. Filter portion of air cleaner sitting down into oil pool. (possibly due to mismatched or damaged air cleaner parts)

Couple questions

1. Does the exhaust smoke blue?

2. Does the engine foul spark plugs?

3. Is their a pcv valve vented into the air cleaner? If so, could it be siphoning oil back to the crankcase?

Someone will figure this out..........Tim

[Mark D]

Hi Tim - Here's an update. Drove the car for 35 miles yesterday, all backroads. Added about 10 table spoons of oil before I took her on the road. When I got back the sump dry as a bone.

Before I left, I also installed an ever-dri wire & cap system that I got from Roberts motor parts. I checked the plugs and they all seem clean. Checked timing & dwell and all seemed well.

Exhaust on cold start shows some black soot and condensation on the garage floor, but clears quickly. Thankfully never have had an issue with blue smoke, although the exhaust does smell much richer than your average modern car, but I chaulked this up to the the lack of smog equipment.

There is no PCV system on the car as of yet, just the factory installed crankcase vent tube. Air cleaner assembly appears to be just as clean as the day I doused it with kerosene (steel wool interior appears bright and shiny). Air cleaner assembly seems to be in factory condition as well. I will get photographs and post shortly.

Other than that I do get some smoke from the oil fill vent, but this seems to be normal from what I hear.

thanks - Mark

[oldodge41]

No signs of a leak and no signs of burning it? I don't have a clue at this point. ........Tim

[55 Fargo]

No signs of a leak and no signs of burning it? I don't have a clue at this point. ........Tim

Only a few ways out of the filter, a) leaking (eliminated), vaporizing and burning with gasoline( check plugs), c) your drinking it...............LOL

[Niel Hoback]

May be an evil spirit?

[richardhathe]

Only a few ways out of the filter, a) leaking (eliminated), vaporizing and burning with gasoline( check plugs), c) your drinking it...............LOL

what grade oil goes in filter