How To Clean & Oil a Foam Air Filter on Motorcycle or ATV

hey this is Justin from Rocky Mountain atv/mc calm and in this video I'm going to show you how to properly clean and oil your foam air filter cleaning and oiling your air filter in your motorcycle atv or UTV is the single most important thing you can do in regards to maintenance if it's not done properly you're going to get dust sand dirt into your engine and it's just going to destroy your engine components so in this video I'm going to show you how to properly do it on a foam air filter so first off I'm going to pull the seat so I have access to the air filter now the important part when you're pulling out your air filter is you want to be careful not to drop dirt off your dirty air filter and dirt in the air box into the air boot so we're going to carefully remove the air filter it's always a good idea to use rubber gloves when you're working with your air filter air filters are messy when you're taking them out and when you're putting them in okay so I've taken the bolt out I'm just going to kind of pull the filter away from the cage and pull it out even if you're careful there's a good chance things could fall into the air boot so it's always a good idea to inspect the air boot and clean any dirt that may have fallen in it's also a good idea to check the air boot just to see if there's any dust or anything that may have got in on your last ride it gives you a good indication on how well you're cleaning and oiling your air filter so with the filter out I'm going to go ahead and quickly spray the air boot with some contact cleaner or wd-40 and with the clean rag I'm going to carefully wipe it out keep in mind there are several different brands and types of foam filter oil so it's important that you always read the instructions on the back for the most part they're all the same these are all going to be petroleum based and that's what we're going to be cleaning and oiling in this video but there are a few biodegradable foam filter oils that require different cleaning procedures and different cleaners to actually clean those filters so pay attention to that and always read the instructions on the container there are a lot of different types of solvents used to clean air filters a lot of guys will use an automotive solvent or kerosene to get the oil out of their filter the best cleaners are the cleaners from the MEK the air filter oil manufacturers they do a really good job at cleaning they're safe a lot of guys will also use gasoline I don't recommend using that because it's dangerous and it's actually harmful to the foam filter itself the best method whatever cleaner you use in my opinion is to totally submerge the filter in the cleaner so you can really rinse the dirt and oil out so for this video I'm going to be using this maximum air filter cleaner and I'm going to be using the twin air tub to hold it in whether you use one of these or a bucket of some sort is fine I like this because it's a tough bucket it's pretty strong and keep it in my garage and it's got a lid that seals really tight and that keeps any of the cleaner from evaporating one more nice thing about this bucket is it comes with this little tray I guess you could call it a little little screen so I'll keep this bucket in my garage full of solvent or half full of solvent and I'll clean my filter several times in it and the dirt will kind of settle to the bottom this little screen thing will keep my filter from getting into the dirt as I'm cleaning them I'm just going to fill this up with I'm just going to fill this up with the cleaner I like to keep about a gallon of cleaner in my tub and I can clean a lot of filters before I have to change it out all right now I'm just going to throw in the dirty filter and I'm just going to let it soak for a couple minutes after it's set in the solvent for a couple minutes I'm going to kind of wash it out squeeze it a little bit you never want to twist and wring out a foam filter it can damage the foam so I'm just going to kind of rinse this until it looks clean after cleaning it in the filter cleaner you need to rinse it out if you use a kerosene or an automotive solvent you're going to want to wash it with dish soap first because you want to get the solvent the kerosene out of the filter so it doesn't break down the oil when you go to reel it so I'm just going to throw a little dish soap on this and wash it in my warm water now that we've cleaned the filter we're going to give it a quick rinse this is just warm water and now that the filter is clean it's a good idea to inspect the filter especially check all the glued seams make sure the filters holding together and it's safe to put back in the bike check for any cuts or tears this filter strangely enough actually has a small tear a cut right there and it goes all the way through the filter so unfortunately this filter is no good it's not worth risking getting any dirt in our engine so we're going to have to throw this away after you've cleaned your filter rinsed it you're going to let it dry completely before you oil it because we had to throw away our other filter we've got a brand new filter so it's dry and ready to go I'm going to use the twin air oiling tub just like the cleaning tub it's really nice has a lid that seals really nice so my oil doesn't evaporate the solvents in the oil don't evaporate now there's a lot of different methods to oiling an air filter you can use the aerosol spray to get oil all over the filter then work it in a lot of guys will get a bottle of oil and put a small hole in the in the top and carefully put it on like syrup on a pancake or something I like totally submerging the filter in oil it's a foolproof way to make sure that oil gets everywhere in that foam filter so I'm going to put the filter in my tub with the oil work it around totally saturate the filter in oil and then I'm going to squeeze out the excess if you want to guarantee that oil is everywhere in that filter this is the only way to do it again you don't want to wring the filter out but I'm going to squeeze it pretty good and get as much oil out as I can once I've done that I'm just going to kind of squeeze it around massage it all in so that the oil is evenly spread throughout the filter before you put the filter back on the cage make sure it's clean so I'm just going to spray a little contact cleaner on this one and get off a couple dirty spots that I see okay now I'm going to install the cage back in the filter lining lining it up with the alignment tab right there and the hole in the top most modern bikes the seal of this air filter is going to seal up just fine but as an extra precaution we're going to put a little bit of grease around the rim this is just normal bearing grease all-purpose grease here and this just kind of gives you a little more assurance in security that this filter is actually going to seal nice up against the surface of the air boot carefully hold the filter on the cage and put it into the air box and I like to watch to make sure everything lines up right the filter is sealing against the plate properly and then I'll tighten the wing nut with the filter in place I always like to run my fingers around the outer edge just to make sure the filter stayed on the cage and that everything sealing properly with my filter cleaned and oiled I'm going to put the lid back on my oiling and cleaning tub and put those away until the next time I have to clean my filters cleaning air filters may not be the most enjoyable thing to do but it is essential and if you do it right you're going to be able to get a lot more enjoyment out of your machine be sure to check out our website for all your parts apparel and accessory needs and of course air filters and air filter products thanks for watching you

Channel: Rocky Mountain ATV MC

Views: 997,003

Rating: 4.8277001 out of 5

Keywords: how to, clean, cleaning, air, filter, air filter, foam, dirty, installation, replace, service, maintenance, dirt bike, motorycle, atv, utv, dualsport, dual sport, removal, process, oil, cleaner, no toil, twin air, pro x, uni, foam air filter, rocky mountain, atvmc, rmatv, rocky mountain atv, mc, k&n, best

Id: rjaiZ6cvfZM

Length: 10min 16sec (616 seconds)

Published: Wed May 18 2016