air filter oil -- why?

[harjp1959]

I'm full of questions tonight. This one is about the DRZ air filter.

I've been wondering what the function of oil on the air filter is. Wait, that's not a question. Let me try again.

Why do we oil the air filter? And assuming the answer is to keep out moisture and help catch dirt and dust, how does enough air get through?

What kind of oil is air filter oil? What "weight" is it? Can you buy it as a straight liquid, or does in come only in an aerosol can?

[DRZ400SLloyd]

We oil the filter to remove the dirt particles fromthe air. The foam traps the oil in pockets inside and still lets the air flow through, the dirt clings to the oil as it passes through and traps it. Without the oil you might as well not have an air filter at all, although it does keep the butterflies out! LOL

It isn't an issue of the weight of the oil, but don't be using the WD40 eh..a good engine oil works fine, just don't add too much so that it is dripping off of it. You squeeze it out so that it has a good amount in it still.

[akpilot7]

Oil traps dirt. Put some oil on a paper towel, put dust on the towel, then shake it off. You will see exactly where the oil is because it will "hold" the dust. It is possible to put too much oil on your air filter. Too much oil will indeed restrict the airflow to the engine. My experience has been to saturate the filter then squeeze out all the excess that I can.

[bens25au]

And yep....you can buy it bottled "in liquid form" as well as the spray can. ? I personally haven't used anything other than proper filter oil on mine. From what i have experienced i would say the proper filter oil is alot more 'tacky' once it is allowed to dry. ?

[Erik Marquez]

As has been said,, the oil is what traps the dirt.

Use an foam type air filter oil only with your foam filters. Regular motor oil works fine for you lawn mower..but not your bike please. When the carrier in air filter oil drys,, it leaves behind a tacky oil residue that is much different then regular oil.. The two are not interchangeable.

[Ray_Stedronsky]

See, ya larn somthin every day.....

All this time I thought I was lubricating the air so it would flow faster through the filter and make my bike run better

Damn!....wrong again

[Bobdrz400s04]

i was actually going to post a question about this lastnight..

i use a air filter cleaner called PJ1 foam filter cleaner (or something.. it's a black and blue can).. you saturate the filter with it.. let it sit for a few minutes.. then rinse it out w/ water.. squeeze the water excess off (never wring it out though).. and when it's dry.. you proceed.. i find putting the air filter next to the de-humidifier really really helps to draw the water out of the filter..

after that i use a sticky tacky spray called I think PJ1 foam filter conditioner or something (its' a black and red can).. you spray that on the filter (it's really really sticky red stuff) and you kind of massage it into the filter and then put the filter back in the bike..

my question is "is what i'm doing good".. or is there something better to be done.. and from what i do, how long must you wait after applying the red sticky stuff b4 you can ride your bike / run the engine.. thanks..

[obrianmcc]

No Toil filter oil........only way to go. It's biodegradable and comes with this handy little powder that melts the dirty oil right off your filter element in your kitchen sink, very little mess, no odors.....Awesome stuff !!!

[Patster]

See, ya larn somthin every day.....

All this time I thought I was lubricating the air so it would flow faster through the filter and make my bike run better

Damn!....wrong again

Maybe they should call it air filter glue, instead of air filter oil. The property most important about it is its tackiness, so that seems like a more appropriate name.

[captd1]

after that i use a sticky tacky spray called I think PJ1 foam filter conditioner or something (its' a black and red can).. you spray that on the filter (it's really really sticky red stuff) and you kind of massage it into the filter and then put the filter back in the bike..

my question is "is what i'm doing good".. or is there something better to be done.. and from what i do, how long must you wait after applying the red sticky stuff b4 you can ride your bike / run the engine.. thanks..

The PJ1 filter oil is good stuff, super tacky. We use it out here in the sand all the time. Just be sure the filter is fully dried before oiling, and don't over oil! Spray the filter and knead it in, inside and out, once it's evenly covered you're done. As long as you didn't get excessive with the oil, you're good to ride immediately.

[harjp1959]

If you get excessive with the oil, is squeezing it out a way to make it right?

[10guy]

No Toil filter oil........only way to go. It's biodegradable and comes with this handy little powder that melts the dirty oil right off your filter element in your kitchen sink, very little mess, no odors.....Awesome stuff !!!

Not necessarily, I've had a carb get dusted using no toil and have heard of the same from others (some on this forum). Now I use pj-1 ?

If you get excessive with the oil, is squeezing it out a way to make it right?

Yes

[jhtoy]

I have cleaned and oiled more air filters than I care to remember.I always used twin air oil and filters on my yz 250 and never had any dirt ingestion problems.Recently I discovered Reedy filters at the local stealership.They are preoiled and ready to go out of the package.I don't think I would use these on a full tilt motocrosser but on my 05 drz 400s that sees little dirt they work great!When it gets dirty just chuck and get a new one.I think they are about 12 bucks?

[DRZ400SLloyd]

What about K&N air filter oil, I use one on my 67 Beaumont (K&N cotton filter) but never thought to try it on a foam filter. Anybody know?? The stuff is very tacky. Oh, and I just read my owners manual and it does say to use motor oil, but I'm sure a tackier oil would be better.

[Neil Claydon]

A friend uses K&N oil on the foam filter in his XR and it seems OK.

Neil. ??

[brad21]

Okay, here's a question... I've been cleaning my air filter (Twin Air) with dish soap. By the time I get it clean and somewhat dry it still feels pretty oiled up. I'm using Belray, the blue stuff. Last time I cleaned it I didn't even re-oil it. This time I did the same. Got the dirt out and stuck it back in the airbox without applying more oil.

Think this will be okay? Or should I clean the airfilter with something like Kerosene, get it completely clean without any oil left over and then re-oil it?

[harjp1959]

Wow. It's amazing how little I knew just so very recently.... It's like watching myself grow up!

Try using something like this. Costs about $5 a can:

You want something that will dissolve the oil in your air filter. Dishsoap just doesn't cut it. That old oil, still trapped in your filter, is dirty. That is, it has dust and dirt sticking to it. So your filter is at least partially clogged.

By the way, I tried something that a friend of mine said he heard here on TT from a guy who's raced in Baja for years. And that's oiling just the inside of the filter. Rather than have dirt sticking to the outside of the filter, a lot of the dirt shakes off. My airbox does look dirtier than it has when I've oiled the entire filter. Anyone else hear of this?

[roggiedog]

The oil being in the filter reminds me of what earwax does along with the hair in our ears. It catches junk good. I may try some mineral spirits to clean my ears tonight

[brad21]

Errrr...um...okay.

[JoeDints]

i was actually going to post a question about this lastnight..

i use a air filter cleaner called PJ1 foam filter cleaner (or something.. it's a black and blue can).. you saturate the filter with it.. let it sit for a few minutes.. then rinse it out w/ water.. squeeze the water excess off (never wring it out though).. and when it's dry.. you proceed.. i find putting the air filter next to the de-humidifier really really helps to draw the water out of the filter..

after that i use a sticky tacky spray called I think PJ1 foam filter conditioner or something (its' a black and red can).. you spray that on the filter (it's really really sticky red stuff) and you kind of massage it into the filter and then put the filter back in the bike..

my question is "is what i'm doing good".. or is there something better to be done.. and from what i do, how long must you wait after applying the red sticky stuff b4 you can ride your bike / run the engine.. thanks..

Bob... What you are doing is fine... Few suggestions..

one... use the filter cleaner to clean it first... then I'd recommend to you to get a bucket of nice warm water and add some laundry detergent into it...

that's what I use, seems to me to work better then dish soap... slip your finger through the hole on the top of the filter and push the filter up and down in the soapy water for a good 3 to 5 minutes... reason for this is:

A. the filter cleaner will break down the most of the oil present in the filter, and clean it pretty good, then using the soapy water and swishing up and down will cause addition particles trapped in the filter to make their way out.. I normally will then sort of wave the filter up and down outside, somewhere that is will not matter that oil sticky water will land.. to remove a good amount of water from the filter... then normally I just hang in up to dry, outside, if it's dry and will not freeze, the sun helps too...normally, I let it sit over night... after it's dry, I turn it inside out again and inspect it to insure there are no particals clinging to the inside of the filter..

two... oiling the filter.. I purchased a box of gloves, I'm sure they are exactly like the ones you use at school, white latex ones... I use them while removing, cleaning oiling and installing filters and change them out often while doing this job.. if you use the spray, turn the filter inside out and spray in there first, get it covered pretty good, 30 to 45 seconds of spraying, then turn back right and cover the outside well, little more then what you sprayed inside... I then just mend it to distribute the oil better and if there is excess, I add a paper towel to the mending process toward the end.. let the filter sit for about 15 minutes 10 at the very least before even installing it.... it lets the oil set up and if you read the directions on most cans, it states this..

before install... put a bead of grease around the matting surface of the filter, but clean that airbox out too... I spray windex, 409, whatever in it and wipe it out with a paper towel, it doesn't have to be perfect, but no reason to cover your clean filter with dirt from in there.. slip in the filter,, make sure it is seated properly, replace the retaining clip and your ready to go..... I have 2 filters for my bike, had 3 for my last one and will be getting another for this one soon too... reason, I alway have a clean filter...

Start with 3 clean and oiled filters, I store the clean ones in the plastic bags from shop rite and acme... one filter per bag and wrap it to the shape of the filter, don't fold it up... then put the bagged ones in another bag hanging from the wall to prevent folding and crushing... after I install the last clean one, I clean and oil the other 2 dirty ones, which I just store dirty in another plastic bag until cleaning time.. This negates the waiting to dry process totally

Don't let the bottled foam filter oil scare you either... it cheaper and you get many more oil jobs per bottle... place the filter you want to oil inside a large ziplock bag, pour in some oil and work it into the filter, add alittle at a time to prevent excess oil in there... when you finished, you can even store it in there instead...