My 1971 Case 580CK has the oil bath style air cleaner assembly that has the steel wool inside that seems like it does not come apart to replace or clean. The bottom cup has a crack in it and it has not held oil for years. The steel wool is looking pretty gross and full of dirt and dust. I would like to make this better but am at a loss for ideas. How important is the oil in the air cleaner? Has anyone found a method for saving these? Is there a dry replacement option?
I would say it's real important to find the parts and fix it. That oil really works well to trap trash. I can't find the parts for the 580CK but I think the 470 tractor uses a similar setup. Wengers or someplace should have a used one. All States Ag Parts? Does your look like this? View attachment 470_Air-Filter_Exhaust.pdf
Running it w/o the oil is about like running a dry air cleaner without the paper cartridge. In normal operation most of the dirt goes straight into the oil when the air abruptly changes direction. Some oil is carried by the airstream up into the steel wool, where it catches the dirt that makes the turn. The oil and dirt drips back into the cup and is replaced by the oil being continually carried up. I have brazed up rust holes and cracks, welded plates over the whole bottom of the oil cup. You may be able to find a new or used replacement for the cup. There is a thread on here about cleaning them out. I don't know if the 580ck came with a dry option, but you could look for one off of another machine that you could adapt.
This is a job for JBweld, or something similar if the cup is salvagable. If the cup isn't fixable, the cup itself should be easy to find. The rest of it should probably be taken off and washed with the hottest water you can get with the strongest detergent you feel comfortable using, TSP or lye, just don't put aluminum in either. http://www.ebay.com/itm/DONALDSON-O...=BI_Heavy_Equipment_Parts&hash=item58a3e9564f If this looks close, put the old one on the shelf.
That ebay ad looks similar to mine. The out to engine port on mine is straight down where the ebay one is horizontal. I may be able to modify it to fit. I have been using diesel fluid to clean the mesh as I read somewhere on this forum it was a good detergent for that. Seems to be working. I will first try to weld the cup on mine. I should be able to get it hold oil again. I was hoping there was a cartridge style air filter that would be plug and play... For reference, Mine is like this one.
As I look into the ebay one it has a 2.0" inlet and outlet. The Case factory unit has 2.25" ports. Does anyone worry that airflow will be too restricted if I go this route?
It would work just fine, but it's not that hard to fix an oil cup either. You could use silicone caulk, and I guarantee it will work 100 times better with oil in it than it has without oil.
I love replacing the oil in mine. It's easy and fast. It will be full of bugs flies and all kind of dust & crap down in the bottom. I use purple dragon to clean the wire mesh out with a water hose.
Now that you mention it could be fun, I think I'll try running the oil cup with Canola oil. That way I'll have deep fried bugs. So I'll have to weld up that crack in the cup. I was surprised at how easily the mesh cleaned up. Diesel washed it run out. Thanks as always to this great board for all the continued help.
This could be a dumb question but what kind of oil does everyone put in the oil bath?
any motor oil
Find a tractor salvage and they'll have lots of oil bath air cleaners. I would bet places like A&I parts would have new replacements and/or individual components. Case could have parts as well. Hopefully your engine isn't damaged too bad from not using oil. Fine dust will go right through the mesh. A lot of people prefer oil bath air cleaners.
Can you use the old stuff when you change the oil in your truck?
It holds about half a litre. Put new oil in when you change the engine oil. Everybody likes to try and save money but if you can't afford to put $3 of new oil in an old bath air cleaner, maybe you need to park the machine.
The Case part number is G46325 and the IH part number is 362974R91 I put Case part number in search bar and this came up.
Haha thanks for the answer. It’s not about the money it was just curiosity, figured if you could then it beats just dumping the old oil
If not money, why would you want to put dirty contaminated oil in it?
I never had a piece of equipment that had an oil bath on it before so I honestly didn’t know how it worked and the oil’s primary purpose was to just catch anything missed by the prescreener. Since it’s not lubricating anything I thought it might not matter since the old engine oil doesn’t have any debris in it.
How do you know the old oil has no debris in it? For the small amount it takes replace it when you change engine oil or sooner if working in really dusty conditions.
Is G46325 the number for the diesel version as well as the gas? because most of the ads I see say 580CK Gas. The picture also shows an inner cup and my diesel CK has no inner cup. Mine has already been fixed with what looks like a large amount of jbweld and still leaks.
No, They are not the same cups. Click on the image to enlarge it.
I think the diesel cup is bigger and holds about 3/4 quart more than the gas one.
My 1967 580CK was missing the air filter. I found a late 60's filter but it was from a diesel. I thought they must be the same but the diesel is a little bigger than the gas. I had to open up the cutout in the hood just a bit to fit the bigger housing. The oil cup also had some pin holes in it. I was sealing my gas tank with some pour in sealer so I just used a little of that in the oil cup. Seems to be working well so far.