Anyone try oiling an paper air filter?

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I've seen some Fram paper air filters that come preoiled. Has anyone tried oiling a regular paper filter? Maybe WD40 on the outer side?
 
from the fordsix forum:


PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:04 pm

2) I have ran accros several good studies done in the 60's that clearly document that paper air filters are better than oil breathers. The usual quoted numbers are about 95% efficiency for oil bath and 99% efficient for paper -- and that was 30 years ago, before some of the better filters came around that are now available.

Finally, and perhaps most troublesome -- most oil breather filters do not actually allow to have a good look at the fiber mesh in the breather. Its encased in such a fashion that you cannot replace it or look at it without destroying the breather. Overtime, old oil breathers will develop voids in the mesh. Once there is a void, that will become the path of least resistance and ALL the air will go there, bypassing the rest of the mesh. It will arrive in the engine essentially unfiltered.

3) If you really desire the "look" then hollow out the oil breather and find a paper air filter that will fit in there. Old look, modern guts.


I washed many an oil breather out as a kid, and I was impressed at the ammount of dirt in there (old tractors and dust). Then in the 70's they went paper. At the end of the season when we replace filters AFTER THE SAME # HOURS, the dirt was so caked on that it became clear that we had been running a lot of that dirt THROUGH the engine prior to the use of the paper filters.

Just my observations and opinions...
 
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Ive used Pam WD40, all on home air fitters, but not a fine automotive air filter, it could make it too restrictive.
 
I have sprayed on a light mist of WD40 just to make sure the filter paper wouldn't get soft or swell up.
It seemed fine on the filter I was trying it on. I let it sit for a few weeks and it still seemed OK.
I never did put that test filter on an engine. Guess I felt it unecessary with a good filter, which, to my understanding, are all treated with a dirt holding resin anyway. The WD40 might even cancel that out. I dunno.
Purolator PureOne also makes a pre-oiled kind of filter.
 
Originally Posted By: scoobie
from the fordsix forum:

PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:04 pm

2) I have ran accros several good studies done in the 60's that clearly document that paper air filters are better than oil breathers. The usual quoted numbers are about 95% efficiency for oil bath and 99% efficient for paper -- and that was 30 years ago, before some of the better filters came around that are now available.


I don't think he's asking about oil bath air cleaners, but about oiling a paper filter to try to make dust stick to it even better.
But since you posted, I agree. Wish you could post this on some of the old VW forums and watch the reaction
crazy2.gif

I have an oil bath on my '69 VW Bus, and I'll keep it original, but yes, a good, modern "paper" filter does a better job. You can't tell them that on a VW forum though.
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Never oil a paper filter. The amount of dirt that goes through a good paper filter is minimal if you don't try to clean it with air pressure. This is a Denso filter in my 4x4 Toyota, 6000 km on the oil, about 30,000 on the air filter. Note that I only have 3 to 4 ppm of dirt, and only 1 ppm of iron in that period. First two samples are 15W-40, last one is 10W-30. (looks like time for another sample, as I have 200,000 on it now).
The truck sees mostly dirt roads, heavy loads, short trips.
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Originally Posted By: widman
Never oil a paper filter...The truck sees mostly dirt roads, heavy loads, short trips.

Hey, thanks for posting that. It's time to change the air filter on my Tacoma. I ran right out and bought a Denso at the dealer an hour ago.
 
I'm a few thousand kms away from an air filter change, and was going to use Wix, but I see Fram actually get good reviews here.
What the verdict on the Fram Platinum oiled media filters?
 
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