air filter rot

[8586bigred]

i am having some trouble keeping air filters in my 3 wheelers. I have 3 big red 250's. I have ran uni, moose, oem honda and i service them religiously. (most of the time twice a year. ) We usually average 200 miles a year per bike. I use fab 1 air filter oil after using a foam filter cleaner. I let them dry and then re oil. I change oil twice a year as well. I always run 93 octane gas with a fuel stabilizer additive for ethanol gas. My problem is 2 - 2.5 years is all i can get out of a air filter. It become brittle and rotten. Are all y'all having similar trouble? is this normal? Any cleaner/oil better than others? thanks guys!

[DohcBikes]

What are you cleaning them with? If you use solvent or carb/brake cleaner they'll break down. After reading again I see you are using foam filter cleaner.

I use dawn detergent and water, do not dry in the sun, Bel Ray filter oil.

And yes, foam filters often break apart after a couple services. Seems hit and miss.

[6speedthumper]

I use PJ1 foam filter cleaner and tack spray. The original filter in my pop's Fourtrax 300 lasted 13 years before I had to replace it. I service my filters probably 4-5 times a year. Most of the filters I've had to replace have been from the glue bonding the foam to the rubber failing.

[8586bigred]

i use that same PJ foam filter cleaner. That is all. Then i let air dry in a shed. Then i spray with fab 1 filter oil.

[Samjp22]

ive always used gas to clean my filter, never had a problem

[6speedthumper]

I always fail to plan to let my filter air dry. I really need to do them at night when I don't have to run the machine. I usually end up gently wringing them out, then stuffing them with paper towel and squeezing them so the paper towel soaks up the remaining water. Last I'll blow some compressed air in them before applying the tack spray.

[El Camexican]

I've tried a bunch of cleaning methods, solvent (worked great on the old cloth filers, but hardens the foam) Laundry soap and warm water by hand (not too warm or the glue melts) recently I gather a half dozen and tossed them in the washer with a cup of Bio Filter detergent. The result was that half came out like new and the other half fell apart. The other issue is rim grease. It does not break down in the water, so it smears all over the inside of the washer. If you know my wife you know that is a heath hazard (for me).

So after all these years I've decided for all the hassle, time, chemicals and worry about if a filter is going to come apart while I'm ridding in a wake of my buddy's dust I've decided that a $15 pre-oiled filter is a wonderful thing to use once and toss in the trash. To put it in perspective, it costs less than a tank of fuel.

[tripledog]

I make my own filters with 1/2" foam that is commonly sold in fabric shops, my exact-o knife set, and a dollar store glue gun. I'm McGiver, dammit!

[86125m]

If you are having problems with foam filters why not try a non foam filter such as a k and n they are alittle pricy but if you are buying foam filters twice a year that gets expencive. And ps my dads been running the same k and n filter for 15 years now and its still is good.

[El Camexican]

And ps my dads been running the same k and n filter for 15 years now and its still is good.

That's open to debate. I've never had a problem with K&N aside from a sensor in an F150, but for off-road I'll take foam every time.

[6speedthumper]

I've been running a K&N in my Warrior, with only an outerwears and a shield (no air box) for two years now an I clean it once, maybe twice, a year. The outerwears I clean 4-5 times a year because it traps the dust and dirt so well. It has a done a great job of keeping the filter clean. There have been a few times where I have nearly sunk that quad, the filter was covered in watery mud, and that watery mud has never penetrated through the filter. There have been a few times I've had to "beat" the filter against a tree to dislodge the mud and water from it, hold it up against the exhaust of another running atv to "blow it out" and dry it; clean the Outerwears with a bottle of water and wipe it off with my shirt, put them both back on the quad and go about riding for the day. Have not lost an engine yet, although I now carry an extra filter and outerwears with me when I ride that quad incase the above happens again. I have a K&N with outerwears in my 350x as well. I was very skeptical about using the K$N filters, but I've been more then impressed with them thus far. That's just my experience though.

[YamaBoss]

I use k&n filters in all my vehicles and trikes. I put the k&n filters in the air boxes and they work well for me. Foam on the other hand never works well for me. I had the same troubles mentioned above. My dads k&n filter has to be 10-12 years old and still works fine. Just a little cleaning now and then. I would go for the k&n filter. It's worth the extra money and is close to the cost of a couple foam ones every year.