The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Oil bath breather

I was wondering if there is a way to get the breather element out of oil bath breather so I may clean it? I don't see any way to take the element out without destroying it. Or do you have to buy a whole new oil bath assembly?

It doesn't come apart. You have to soak it in gasoline or kerosene and rinse it out. Dry it thoroughly with compressed air or let it sit out in the sun for a while.

Section 6-77 of the FSM.

Maybe this helps

Filter 1

Filter 2

Challenger Pilot You just either rinse as was said or lay it out like on cardboard and let the oil drain off of it while you clean and replenish the oil in it's sump. Don't poke at the hog hair,mine was pretty thick with field dirt,they tell you to use same as your engine oil for the season. With detergent oil as oil is pulled up in it from air flow dirt will be captured,then settle in the sump at rest. Clean as yours is nothing to worry about !! Went to a car show an X teacher of mine who is 87 and done it all saw my oil bath,he commented that someone had come to him (for real)to ask about his truck with 31,000 miles he said probably need bore work. Others say oil bath is best even today,so I don't know ! Pretty sure I have on more than 31,000 since crank accepted .002 under bearings 11,000 miles back !! It uses some oil but no smoke is a 50 mph truck.

The oil bath air cleaner on mine can be taken out but it is a Canadian model they are a little different , here is one similar the centre piece comes out allowing for the screen and filter to come out. Mine has two pieces of filter with screen between the two as well as screen on the end as seen.more imfo

I have one just like yours Doug. Great tech article here about converting it to modern foam element while leave it original in appearance. upgrading oil bath air cleaner.
One of these days I might do mine.

Thanks for all the responses! I will let it sit in some gasoline for a day or so and see if I can get the filter element cleaned up. Absence of that, I'll have to do some modifications.

kevinski Just saw your oil bath air cleaner picture,is a good shot of the hog "hair". Think it's really hog hair?? We called it that at home nearly 70 yrs. ago. I think with detergent oil especially it will be cleaned automaticly by cycleing dirt will fall to the sump and wait to be taken out. As for protection how else can engines live this long ?? Modern ones get ground up into new toyotas in less than 20 years !!

Challenger Pilot Saw that little guy on youtube testing air filters end result was wix or purolator best for the money,I use 1/8 th aluminum plate with a round element if not the oil bath. Have a .060 over 327 still alive after 53 years mostly on Fram or AC.

Oil bath air breathers have been around for a hundred years for a reason... they work. I have 4 tractors dating from the 40's through the 60's that have worked through the most brutally dusty conditions one can imagine. No air related failures. We just rinsed out the hog hair yearly and serviced the sump as needed. Scraped out about an inch of dirt and bugs and topped off with motor oil.
Now, with the almost sterile conditions a Stovebolt operates in today, wash the hog hair with solvent, oil it and forget it. Then simply clean the crud out of the sump and fill to the line with each oil change.
I don't like using compressed air. Tends to break up some of the hog hair. Just let it dry in the sun. Then oil it. Overfill and the carb will suck it in. My 54 3100 likes it just below the fill line.

Something I have wondered about Oil Bath Air Cleaners, I feel since the air is forced through the oil, which offers a restriction to the airflow, that it would cause a slight choke effect. And could contribute to use of more fuel and a richer condition. Some day I will check that out and try to get some data on it.

The air isn't forced thru the oil. The oil wicks up into the filter mesh and traps the dirt. If the dirt clogs the mesh completely, then it would choke off the airflow. Which would mean it's time to clean the filter.

The oil in the "bath" is the oil sitting in the bottom of the base of the filter. This oil holds larger pieces of debris, such as leaves and insects, that drop into it due to the abrupt change in direction of the airflow. The air, now only contaminated with finer particles, goes through the mesh to remove them. The particles stick to to the oil treated mesh.

Some styles of oil bath use metal mesh, others use fiber mesh. Some filters called oil bath filters don't actually have a bath. They just have the oil treated mesh through which the air passes as it enters the carburetor.

Jethro in Va Good explanation on oil bath equipment,have several in my pile,some in service. They mostly keep the hog hair washed from being used,I just lay mine out and let it drain cause I don't want to hunt for hog hair !! 100019 thousand so far keep truckin.