Servicing Oil Bath Air Cleaners 4104

[Rick59-4104]

 I am getting ready to service the 3 oil bath air cleaners on my 4104. The manual said to use the same weight oil as in the engine but I am thinking the 40 weight Delo engine oil I use might be too thick.
Would I be better off to use a straight 20 or 30 weight? From what I have read on the web on Oil Bath Filters the weight of the oil used is critical for the cleaners to function correctly.
Does anyone know if the gaskets that go between the oil reservoir and the canister are available? I would think they would need to be periodically replaced.

The manual said to use cleaning fluid but did not say what, from my web search I am seeing that most use diesel or kerosene to clean the element with.
And my final question for the day, any one know how much oil the 3 filters will take?

Thanks
Rick

[John Z]

Seems to me they took about two quarts for each filter. I used the cheapest oil i can find for this purpose, trying to get as close to straight 40 as i could find. I think the last time i wound up using 15w-40 if i remember right.

[Rick59-4104]

 Here's what I did, cleaned the mesh elements and the reservoir in diesel, my oil reservoir does not have a bracket with a full mark on it per the maint. manual, it has what resembles an upside down shallow bowl with a series of holes around the top. I put in about 1 3/4 quarts of straight 30 weight in each reservoir, this put the oil level below the holes in the element.
Does this sound like enought oil in the reservoir? Or should the oil level come up to the holes in the element? Does any of this make sense?
I let the elements drain good put everything back together and started the bus. Before I always had some some smoke on start-up now none at all. The elements and the reservoir were really dirty, with caked on crud in the bottoms of the reservoir and very little (VERY DIRTY) oil in each.
I used about 3 gallons of diesel to get the elements clean. Could the air cleaners being so dirty make such a difference in start-up smoke?

I am really glad I did this today, I highly recommend it if anyone has not cleaned theirs.

Rick

[John Z]

Hey Rick, it is pretty nasty weather out today and i am getting ready to watch the football game tonight. If no one else answers you before tomorrow, i will drop one of my reservoirs and take a picture of it. It seems to be you might need a bit more oil in there, but we will know for sure tomorrow.

[Rick59-4104]

 Thanks John,
 I was worried about putting too much oil in, I figured too little oil would be better than too much, I also went with 30 weight rather than 40 weight because of cooler weather coming on.
Maybe someone will jump in here, the book shows a oil level line but I could not find one on mine.. The wire mesh filter element has a series of holes around the bottom I was not sure if they should be covered with oil or not, I left the level below the holes.....
Rick

[Tenor]

Rick,
I can say that dirty filters will cause your engine to run rich and put out the black smoke.  When I bought my MCI 7, the screens were removed from the radiators and several generations of bird had made nests in the intake.  After cleaning out the passages the first time, the rest of it came loose and was stopped by the blower screens!  Boy did it blow smoke when that happened!  I even found the remains of the bird in the passage!

Glenn

[gus]

Rick,

It has been a while since I did mine but I think I remember an embossed ring around the reservoir or inner cup, can't remember which. The manual gives a pretty good description as I remember. I'll check it tomorrow.

30W is better, I think, because the manual recommended 30W oil for the engine in those days, not the 40W we now use.

I use 30W in the engine winter because it is cheaper and is available in WM as "Heavy Duty" oil, check the rear label. It comes in two gallon bottles.

The oil has to be light enough for the incoming air to suck it up onto the mesh which the oil cleans off and then flows back into the reservoir.

Black smoke can be caused by the reservoir being overfilled or the oil being too light weight.

[John Z]

Rick, i apologize. I have to leave in a little bit and will be gone all day. It will be dark when i get back home. So if you are still in need of the info, i will pull off a reservoir tomorrow and photo it for you.

[sweeney153]

I don't know if the 4104 is the same as the 4106, but on my 4106 there is a round disk/baffle (upside down shallow bowl) that sits in the reservoir and presses up against the bottom of the screen assembly. The bowl has a handle on it and the top of the handle is the full mark. I have attached a link to the page from my manual showing what I am referring to

http://www.sweeney153.com/air filter.htm

[Rick59-4104]

 John, Thanks, don't get out in the cold or bad weather...Sweeney, your description sounds like what I have (without the handle) on the upside down shallow bowl.....looks kinda like something you would feed the chickens out of. I cannot get your link to open?   My upside down bowl with the holes does not have the handle.
Thanks
Rick

[gus]

Rick,

The "oil level" mark is on the small inside center piece, it is hard to see.

The "full" capacity is two quarts.

This is explained in sections 12 and 13 of the manual.

[sweeney153]

I cannot get your link to open?

Sorry, I fixed the link.

[scotty_vince]

I took the entire plenum out of my 4104. found that the intake slots were completley blocked with greasy dirt and grime. I estimate 15% of it was clear. Just something to think about.