For those of you with oil bath air cleaners.. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

abracadabra · #1 10-23-2009, 02:59 PM

Over the years I've always changed out the oil in my bath air filter when I did oil changes, just took the top off and let it drain out on some newspaper and then emptied/wiped clean the bottom part etc. This is for a '76 240D.

I noticed in the manual it mentions cleaning the top part in kerosene? Does anyone clean the top part? Can I use something besides kerosene, Simple Green maybe?

thanks!

mark

Oldwolf · #2 10-23-2009, 03:09 PM

Kerosene is oil soluble. SG is not. You would have to rinse the SG out with water to remove it, then re wet the filter with more kerosene and oil. Simplest would be to rinse with kerosene I think.

abracadabra · #3 10-23-2009, 04:36 PM

Okay, kerosene. Any other options?

Its just that, what the heck do I do with kerosene when I'm done with it?

Does anyone out there do what I do, just drain the sucker out, not soak it in something? I'm curious as to other options.....makes sense Simple Green wouldn't be the best option....but anything else?

mark

turbobenz · #4 10-23-2009, 05:01 PM

You can probably use diesel fuel also. Its basicaly the same thing but slightly thicker. You can filter the kerosene down well and burn it in your car to dispose of it. The manual says to even add kerosene if your having fuel gelling problems

nhdoc · #5 10-23-2009, 06:59 PM

any solvent will do, you can use gumout carb cleaner or even brake cleaner. Diesel is good too. The idea is that the oil in the filter suspends the dirt and dust and flushing it out is the only way to clean it. You can bring it to a garage which has a parts cleaner and pay a couple of dollars to have them give it a good flushing since you haven't cleaned it well it might be worth doing that.

vox_incognita · #6 10-24-2009, 05:09 AM

...diesel fuel is what the manual says..no lye or solvents,as they can damage the synthetic fibres.I soak it in a bucket full of diesel..Then blow with compressed air.I also saturate the mesh with oil,let it drip for a day and install...then oil level to the mark.

nhdoc · #7 10-24-2009, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vox_incognita

...diesel fuel is what the manual says..no lye or solvents,as they can damage the synthetic fibres.I soak it in a bucket full of diesel..Then blow with compressed air.I also saturate the mesh with oil,let it drip for a day and install...then oil level to the mark.

The OP was right, my book says Kerosene, but I am sure diesel is fine too. Nobody said use lye but the idea is to wash away the oil on the filter element. IIRC the filter is made from metal mesh...I don't think there is anything synthetic in it.

The concept of the oil bath is that the oil gets sucked up into the filter element and becomes part of the filtration system. It is imperative that the filter element be cleaned periodically or it isn't really going to be a good filter. Just cleaning out the bottom isn't good enough. That's the important thing...to clean out the filter.

You don't have to soak the mesh in oil...the oil in the bottom does that.

Oldwolf · #8 10-24-2009, 11:17 AM

I have used a tub of hot water and dish detergent to wash mesh out in the past. Be sure to use compressed air to dry the mesh before coating with oil again.