Cleaning of AirSeps

[Petep]

Figure it's time to clean the K&N's (airseps). Had it done last year when the Cummins tech was out but looks like something I can handle. Any Tips?? Just going to take the filters off and using a K&N cleaner kit let them soak up the degreaser for 10 mins or so and them rinse them off real good with low pressure water (hose). Let them dry then spray/rub the new oil into the pleats of the filter. Is that all there is to this job? Any sugguestions??

 

[osd9]

Pete:

I did exactly as you described above. After soaping and rinsing, I let them dry in sun for a few hours before I re-oiled them.

The trickiest part is getting the springs on/off with out dropping them in the bilge. Also, While they're off, be sure to put a nice clean rag over the airsep housing, including the pressure regualtor housing.....don't want anything falling in there....

 

[Asureyez]

Filter Service

The K & N filter is a sandwich of metal mesh and cotton fabric.

The cleaning is a snap. Use the spray cleaner from both sides of the filter and allow to soak in. When hoseing the cleaner and gunk off, use normal full flow water stream (no jet spray) washing outward from inside the filter. You are effectivly rinsing the dirt away from the inside to the outrside. Rinse really well. If you have enough cleaner in the kit drain them for a few minutes and clean them again.

Then allow the filter to dry throughly over night would be great.

Before oiling the now completly dry cotton element INSPECT the filter carefully from the inside. Hold the filter to a strong light and turn looking for gaps or holes in the fabric. If you have open holes it might a good time to replace the filter, or go to filter sleves installed over the K&N filters.

http://www.filtereze.com/

Then look for broken or rusting wire mesh on the inside of the filter. If there is any places suspect consider a repair to the screen mesh vs. replacement of the element. The rusting or corroding of the inside mesh is repoted to be ruining the turbo blades on many engines, when chunks break free. Don't chance it replace a defective and aged element.

If the element is A+, then spray the filter oil as instructed. The bottle in the kit is barely enough to do two filters so watch what you are doing and don't go back over spots until you've finished the second filter. Allow the oil to penetrate while setting on a oil absorbant mat. After several hours re inspect and spray oil on any misses. Skips due to thin oiling will appear grey or white or a gradient lite shadow.

When the element is ready reinstall in the bracket, but first!

Inspect the foam sound absorber inside the AIRSEP housing. This is a grey fine textured foam inset that degrades over time and begins to crumble ... sending foam chuncks into the turbo blades ... the foam can shear off blade edges and of course these chunks are the favored food for the piston heads.

Then while you are there check the AIRSEP crankcase breather filter and clean or replace as required.

I find it is easier to R & R the filter elements with the whole AIRSEP assembly out on the dock on a table. Plug the oil recovery lines and pop the springs on and off out on the dock. With good access you can make sure the elements are firmly seated and springs are properly fastened.

Once the assembly is back on the turbo, torque all the clamps on the pressure side of the air system from Turbo to manifold. make sure all hoses are in good condition and the clamps are tight and clean of rust.

There ya go, your good for another season.

 

[Petep]

Thanks for tips guys, I knew this would be an easy one but just thought I would get some more imput. I let mine dry out all last night and today I will oil and then reinstall. Pretty straight-forward. I bought 2 sets of the K&N recharger kits-looks like I will have one kit to add to my "spares" box. Chad, thanks for the heads up on the oil-as I was worried about if one spray can would be enough-I will make sure I get both before I circle back for the touch-up! I also pushed in (reset) the small plastic breather valve on top as it was showing red in the sight-viewer. My guess is that it tripped because these airseps needed cleaning...right? I had a small oil drip on my starboard main and I think it was from the air-sep being dirty. I cleaned the bilge w/degreaser and now it's as it should be - CLEAN.

 

[Asureyez]

AirSep

Hey Pete

These Walker units are not all that complicated from maintenance standpoint. Yes, you should reset the back pressure flag on the crankcase ventilation line and clean the filter there as well.

If you let the filters go until the back pressure gets to be too much you can get oil leaks under the valve cover gaskets as that rubber gasket just sits on the head rim and you can get a little wet farting of oil going.

Don't forget to check the inside of the filters for corrosion and the rubber sound dampner inside the AirSep housing for decay.

You'll be breathing easy now buddy! And RPMS and GPM will improve too!

 

[Petep]

Got 'her done! Thanks,
Today the Cummins Tech showed up to do my valve lash- Figure it's time for that, these motors run great (480CE's) and want to keep them running that way. I have been told that Valve Lash should be done right around 500 Hrs. Any one else done theirs this year?

 

[Asureyez]

Hey Pete:

Yes, I did my valves back in Late June and what a shocker! Both intake and exhaust were seriously out of timing. When they were brought to spec my engines began running correctly for the first time. Checking the valves is smart!

Have you serviced your after coolers as yet?

Pete, I while you're down there I'd recommend you retorque all hose clamps, inspecting for corrosion as well. Pay particular attention to clamps on the air supply hoses from turbo to manifold.

On my valve issue Either the factory simply had a drunken line that day, but both engines were wacko, and they do not have sequential numbers so I doubt that was the cause. More likely the cause was owner abuse.

I bought the boat used from an 1st owner in Naples, Fl who had a real Smart A** captain who worked on the boat frequently. I suspect maybe he attempted the adjustment but didn't know what he was doing, as there would be no way these engines would have passed factory QC being 20-40 thousandths out.

I have found several hosed up things along the way and I suspect it was the owner doing repairs he had no idea what he was doing. The previous owner was in a financial bind and was likely to have been trying to save some bucks and used dock apes to fix things.

 

[Skip]

As usual, Chad's technical post is thorough, articulate, and logical to follow. Awfully glad you are here, Chad.

I did my filters precisely as Chad did. I was really pleased with the performance of the KN cleaner.

I had Cummins perform valve lash adjustment on my C series at approximately 200 hours. Both were out of spec, and I noticed a decrease in engine noise when they were properly adjusted.

regards
Skip