K&N filter re-oiling

[ESDavey]

Gents, I have just changed the front badge with a nice Union Jack one (thanks Tim) and thought I would clean the K&N air filter at the same time.

I cleaned & dried the K&N filter but forgot to re-oil before refitting. We all know its a bugger to get the filter, box, induction pipe fitted so I have sprayed the filter from the outside with multi-purpose semi fluid grease (good stuff, I like it !).

Sound ok ?

[blueg33]

ESDavey said:

Gents, I have just changed the front badge with a nice Union Jack one (thanks Tim) and thought I would clean the K&N air filter at the same time.

I cleaned & dried the K&N filter but forgot to re-oil before refitting. We all know its a bugger to get the filter, box, induction pipe fitted so I have sprayed the filter from the outside with multi-purpose semi fluid grease (good stuff, I like it !).

Sound ok ?

Hmm, Sounds like a problem to me.

I would have thought the proper oil was the stuff to use. If you use something too greasy I suspect you would just block up the filter so the engine won't breath properly. The K&N oil is very thin.

[chris52]

Air Filter oil needs to be very sticky so it grabs any dust or particles and holds it in the filter. If you use a normal oil it will NOT hold it in the filter infact it will do the opasite, all these particles will then end up in the combustion chamber and can ultmatley cause premature wear on the piston rings and bores.

Would you put cooking oil in your engine??

Chris

[Number 7]

ESDavey said:

so I have sprayed the filter from the outside with multi-purpose semi fluid grease (good stuff, I like it !).

Sound ok ?

More likely to restrict the airflow I would have thought. I would get itoff again, properly clean it (I use a shallow tray with warm water and w/up liquid) rinse thoroghly and allow to dry naturally. Then re-oil with the proper K&N stuff.

7.

[stecozz]

I used to use 3in1 oil to re oil my huge k&n cone on my cosworth,its nice and thin like the red k&n oil but half the price.

[Loubaruch]

chris52 said:

Air Filter oil needs to be very sticky so it grabs any dust or particles and holds it in the filter. If you use a normal oil it will NOT hold it in the filter infact it will do the opasite, all these particles will then end up in the combustion chamber and can ultmatley cause premature wear on the piston rings and bores.
Would you put cooking oil in your engine??Chris

You are most likely correct, but interestingly the old Series Landrovers used to use an oil bath of engine oil as an air filter and they used to travel the length and bredth of Africa etc. in much worse conditions. OK they are hardly high performance but they have pistons and bores just the same. Are you sure that special " air filter oil" is really justified. SU carbs use special "SU carb oil" but 3 in 1 is just as good. If you need very sticky oil then what about chain saw oil that is in a different league regarding stickiness.

[chris52]

Loubaruch said:

chris52 said:

Air Filter oil needs to be very sticky so it grabs any dust or particles and holds it in the filter. If you use a normal oil it will NOT hold it in the filter infact it will do the opasite, all these particles will then end up in the combustion chamber and can ultmatley cause premature wear on the piston rings and bores.
Would you put cooking oil in your engine??Chris

You are most likely correct, but interestingly the old Series Landrovers used to use an oil bath of engine oil as an air filter and they used to travel the length and bredth of Africa etc. in much worse conditions. OK they are hardly high performance but they have pistons and bores just the same. Are you sure that special " air filter oil" is really justified. SU carbs use special "SU carb oil" but 3 in 1 is just as good. If you need very sticky oil then what about chain saw oil that is in a different league regarding stickiness.

I used build and race scale model internal combustion engine cars (I hold the 1/8th scale world land speed record and Guinness World record). Now I know that this is in a much smaller scale but unless you used a top quality really sticky air filter oil you could destroy an engine in about 20 minutes believe me i've seen it done. Yes a big 5.0ltr engine will not be effected as much, but any kind of dust/dedris is much better held in the filter than allowed to pass through and enter the combustion chamber.
Were only talking a few ££ for the correct oil why take the risk on anything else.

Chris

Edited by chris52 on Wednesday 8th September 22:01

[ESDavey]

Thanks Chris, sound advice (I now want to start a new thread on how many TVR owners hold world records - it would run for months !!!)