| Author |
Message |
Art Fromm (4108gmc) (166.144.111.188)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 10:11 pm: | |
I have a GMC 76' 4108. I understand an oil bath is likely the best air filter for the coach. But, I don't know how to keep the mesh clean. Cleaning the oil pan isn't a problem. But how do you service the oil bath mesh? I put on less than 10,000 miles a year. Should I convert it to a paper type cartridge?
Thanks. |
Nelson Thomas (64.12.116.135)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 10:30 pm: | |
"Ditto" to the above question and also , Is the mesh still available new and if so where?
Nelson Thomas |
Nelson Thomas (64.12.116.135)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 10:33 pm: | |
"Ditto" to the above question and also , Is the mesh still available new and if so where?
Nelson Thomas |
Glenn-04 (166.102.79.62)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 10:56 pm: | |
Hi Art,
Normally there won't be anything in the mesh but dust if the canisters have been half way cleaned in the past.
I clean my filters every 3 months.
Now the way I clean the filters on our 4104 is to fill a bucket with diesel fuel. Set the filters in the fuel and let them soak while I clean the pans (also with fuel).
Then I come back to the filters and shake them around in the bucket to "loosen up" the gunk. I do all three filters like that and then set them aside.
Then I fill another bucket with clean fuel and go through the same process again.
After this time I fill a bucket with "safety solvent" and clean them again. Then I set the filters where they are able to drain and dry before reinstalling.
I figure it cost me around $30.00 each time I do the above procedure (fuel, solvent and oil).
I been using this procudure since 1999 with no problems.
I know some may say that I'm wasting fuel, but fuel is cheap compared to a engine overhaul because of dirty air filters.
NOTE: I actually recycle this fuel....I burn it in my woodstove at the shop in the winter.
As far as converting over to "cartridge filters", that will have to be your call. Most people that have them like them. The same is true with the "oil bath filters".
Glenn-04 |
Bill K. (209.86.77.199)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 11:31 pm: | |
Change to the paper filter. maybe that the oil is better but what the hell, are you going to run on dirt roads all the time, I have two dump trucks that have the paper filters, And I dout that you will ever run you coach as many miles. Much easer and much less fuss. My way, but it may not be the best but works for me. I think a lot of people on these boards get carried away and most will never wear out there coach that has not aready be wore. |
BrianMCI96A3 (69.34.169.67)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 11:36 pm: | |
We've had this discussion here a while back...
For my money, oil bath air filters are excellent, once they are serviced properly they will filter properly for years, with no increase in restriction over that period.
As a side benefit the oil bath will remove some heat from intake air via evaporative cooling.
We have a yard tug from the 50's that has an oil bath on it, the engine in it was last rebuilt in the sixties for certain, we run the heck out of it and in the 19 years I know about, we have had to rebuild the tranny twice and the brakes twice, but the flat head Chrysler straight six engine still runs like a top.
The last time the oil bath was serviced it had nearly 3/4 of an inch of silt in the bottom of it, and it was still filtering fine.
Brian |
FAST FRED (4.245.212.87)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 5:24 am: | |
The RPM at which you encounter the dust detirmines if the "oil Bath" will remove the dirt. At high RPM there is plenty of air flow so they seem to work , but at idle going thru a dusty campground with almost no air flow I doubt it.
The big pieces need to be going fast enough to not make the U turn at the bottom of the "filter" , the fines need the oil sucked high enough on the mesh to trap them.Maybe at speed , but at IDLE?
I went for a full conversion to K&N and have been impressed with the results , from my wandering on secondary roads.
Every year it takes a while to clean them , and re-oil , but I find that far easier than every 1500 miles as Da GM Book recomends.
Since every desert race car in the world uses this system ,thats good enough for the Sportscar.
FAST FRED |
John Rigby (24.174.238.253)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 6:28 am: | |
Should you make the change. Be very careful, cause if the seal is not good or incorrect you can do more harm than good. I remmember, reading about engine rebuids because of bad installations.
Keep it simple.
John |
Art Fromm (4108gmc) (166.144.120.81)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 10:44 am: | |
Thanks for the great feedback.
I guess I would stay with the oil bath if I knew how to get the mesh cartrige out, to put it in solvent. Maybe I am missing something. But it isn't obvious how it comes apart on my GMC 4108 (should be the same for a 4905).
If I went with a paper filter, does anybody have makes, models and/or suggestions?
Does K&N make a system for a 4108? |
Randy4107 (66.174.6.205)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 2:34 pm: | |
Art I have a 4107 same large canister as 4108, To clean, the whole can has to be removed and taken to a place that has a dip tank,pain in the but to remove, I solved the problem by taking the bottom oil pan off then using a dremal I cut the ribs that hold the mesh filter in, took an hour I cut at both inner and outer ends of the ribs as there welded in. now its easy to just pull the mesh material out and clean in a bucket, and dry it out.What was a most of the day project now takes 45 min. Randy |
Art Fromm (4108gmc) (166.144.104.222)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 4:32 pm: | |
Thanks Randy for the info.
I was scracthing my head thinking that I was missing the obvious. But it sounds like a project I will need to dig into this summer. |
Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (65.74.65.65)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 8:41 pm: | |
Art, something that may not have been obvious is that the oil in the bottom of the air cleaner is pulled way up into the mesh as you wind your engine up to the shift point.
When you shut your engine down, the oil drains back, taking the dust with it. If the air flow is normal through the air cleaner, the mesh shouldn't need much care.
If you pull one out and there is an appreciable amount of dust on the mesh, it is time to check the plenum to see if it has become obstructed.
Aside of a thin layer of dirt, we sometimes get as much as a quart of water in the reservoir because of driving through a rainstorm. It makes you wonder how much water goes through the engine.
For what it's worth.
Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576
Suncatcher |
Bill Gunther (64.228.43.126)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 12, 2004 - 9:03 am: | |
I am not sure hot to post a message. I need help. Can you post this for
me.
In the early 1980's there was an article in the old FMCA books on how to
convert a 4104 from positive ground to negative ground. I did what it
said and it somehow worked,
Recently the bus stopped charging, I had the generator rebuilt as it was
bad, confirmed by the people that rebuilt it. I re-installed it and the
unit will still not charge. I remember that I had to do something to
"excite" the fields on the generator when I did the conversion but do
not remember what or how.
Does anyone know what has to be done?
Bill Gunther
615 591 6870
bjkbill@comcast.net |
Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (65.74.65.65)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 12, 2004 - 8:43 pm: | |
Bill, if yours is one of those requiring flashing before it can be made to charge, the fix is pretty easy.
Disconnect only the field circuit from the regulator. While disconnected, apply power of the same polarity to the field that the regulator applies to the generator. It really should not even take full battery voltage to get it started.
When it starts charging, shut the engine off and reconnect the field to the regulator. Restart your engine and it should begin charging normally.
This work can be done in fewer steps, but there is the hazard of a mistake ruining something, so you probably ought to take all the precautions.
If this doesn't work, you probably lost something else in your charging circuit. The oil filled generator on our bus has an internal ground on the field, so battery voltage applied to the field terminal would do the trick.
I've never known of one of these needing to be flashed. When ignition power is not used to start the alternator is the only case that I can think of that could need flashing. Some old Leece-Neville alternators had magnets built in so no ignition power was required.
Do not apply power to the relay terminal on the generator.
Good luck.
Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576
Suncatcher |