Foam air cleaners

A suggestion for anyone running a foam air cleaner (Perrin, old Cobb, etc.) to clean and prep it from my motocross days. If the filter is removable from the cage, clean it well with clean kerosene by LIGHTLY wringing it out and rinsing again and LIGHTLY wringing it out again. This removes any oil and road grim deposits that the "citrus" cleaners really won't remove. Let the filter dry naturally as it's not a good idea to blow these with compressed air.

Use a good motocross/ATV foam filter oil such as Bel-Ray, Silkolene, PJ-1, etc. and soak the filter thoroughly. It's OK to let it drip off onto a piece of cardboard. You can use an aerosol or the liquid, either will work fine, but the aerosol is a LITTLE less mess, and I mean a LITTLE less...LOL.

Make sure that the foam is evenly covered in the foam oil which will be thin when you apply it and will become quite sticky when the ketones evaporate off. The motocross oil will remain sticky and grab so much more than just a filter oil like K&N.

Once you have it oiled and the color of the foam filter is uniform, use a rag and a little kerosene to wipe off the boot where it attaches to the intake and re-install.

Depending on the type of driving you do and how much (I use my 05 LGT almost exclusively as a track car so it doesn't get many miles), you can expect a good filter rate for about 20K. It also works well in the winter because the sticky surface can trap ice particles on the surface and hold them until they melt rather than soaking a paper element.

You'll also find that the motocross/ATV filter will go much further than the K&N kit and is less expensive to purchase. Save the kerosene by straining it through a piece of cheesecloth or even a coffee filter and re-use it a couple of times.

Enjoy ! !

Sorry....I forgot to mention how to clean it if the filter does NOT come off the cage. Take the filter assembly and dunk it in clean kerosene and not gently but not too aggressively swish it around for a couple of minutes. Take a close look at it and make sure that all of the buildup is out of the cells in the foam and if not, swish it some more. Sometimes it's good to let the kerosene sit for a minute or two as it will dissolve the road grime, oil, grease, and tar that could be on the foam. Once you have determined that you have it clean, let it drain back into the bucket for a minute or two and then take it out into the street and swing it back and forth hard to help sling the kerosene out of the foam. Then apply the oil as above.

I know that some of them can be removed and some can't, so whichever method you need will work well.

We used to use gasoline to clean them and it worked the best, but I don't take the chance anymore. I also wear nitrile gloves when I clean the filter and when I oil it, just as a precaution.

Thanks.