I was on the hunt for why my spark plugs were all sooted up, why my fuel usage had gone up, why power was down and why under hard acceleration my truck miss fired.
I replaced my Spark plugs and got some improvement but not much (guess I now have a spare set now :=) ) but what a shock I got when I opened the air cleaner up (should have done this first!) the top (outer) was absolutely black. This filter is only 5 - 6 months old. This inner face was still white and clean.
Put the air compressor to work and got to witness a cloud of jet black soot come off the cleaner. Went for a test run no missing more power etc etc etc.
The real question is how the hell did it get that black - in the all the years I have been driving I have never seen the like of this - it really makes me wonder what is in the air we now breathe.
Air Cleaner sooty
Re: Air Cleaner sooty
How long since the aircleaner was last cleaned or replaced, perhaps is was well overdue for a service?
Other options...
Where is the aircleaner drawing air from under the bonnet? is in a position where it can draw in air that may be getting contaminated somehow?, do you have a leaking exhaust manifold? that is near your air cleaner intake,
Other options...
Where is the aircleaner drawing air from under the bonnet? is in a position where it can draw in air that may be getting contaminated somehow?, do you have a leaking exhaust manifold? that is near your air cleaner intake,
Re: Air Cleaner sooty
No the air cleaner is only about 4 - 5 months old. Air is drawn from the front left by the head light and a hand placed there reveals a good flow of air - the truck does have a vacuum operated flap that would draw air off the manifold but I haven't really checked this there being an apparent strong flow at the front.
I found with my car when I worked in town that when cleaned the polish cloth came off black. A bit of diggin revealed the building by which it was parked had a coal fired boiler but you would never have know that as there where no apparent chimneys nor smoke to be seen but for sure it was emitting big time.
I also wonder if in fact the fact that I live in Dunedin which is hilly as and many many of the diesels running about pump out copious quantities of the black stuff?? especially going uphill.
I found with my car when I worked in town that when cleaned the polish cloth came off black. A bit of diggin revealed the building by which it was parked had a coal fired boiler but you would never have know that as there where no apparent chimneys nor smoke to be seen but for sure it was emitting big time.
I also wonder if in fact the fact that I live in Dunedin which is hilly as and many many of the diesels running about pump out copious quantities of the black stuff?? especially going uphill.
Re: Air Cleaner sooty
Maybe the filter has got wet sometime & its actually black mould.
Re: Air Cleaner sooty
Yeah I was thinking mould or something like that.
Re: Air Cleaner sooty
Nope not mould - remember the air compressor blew it away in clouds
Re: Air Cleaner sooty
Dry spores? Pollen?
Re: Air Cleaner sooty
how many km's has it done ?
did you replace the filter yourself last time ?
odds are its just tar and rubber sucked up off the roads.
boss drives mostly tarseal but i'm mostly metalled roads. his filters always has black crap in them. especially so in summer when there is little rain to wash the stuff off the roads. (and when it does rain you get a load of oil/water on the road which splashes up into the filter coating the filter with oil
)
tho 6 months to go black does sound unusual unless high km's. i've only seen that when dodgy mechanics have been blowing the filters out instead of replacing them (ie its actually a 2 year old filter in it).
did you replace the filter yourself last time ?
odds are its just tar and rubber sucked up off the roads.
boss drives mostly tarseal but i'm mostly metalled roads. his filters always has black crap in them. especially so in summer when there is little rain to wash the stuff off the roads. (and when it does rain you get a load of oil/water on the road which splashes up into the filter coating the filter with oil
)tho 6 months to go black does sound unusual unless high km's. i've only seen that when dodgy mechanics have been blowing the filters out instead of replacing them (ie its actually a 2 year old filter in it).
Re: Air Cleaner sooty
I've done about 20,000k's since December. It was a new filter installed it myself. I don't think it's got wet and the truck is used daily so plenty of drying I would have thought. If I find it again I'll blow it clear into a plastic bag then we can have a look at it.
In all my years of driving I have never seen the likes but am leaning towards Heaths thoughts re tar etc - hmmm
In all my years of driving I have never seen the likes but am leaning towards Heaths thoughts re tar etc - hmmm
Re: Air Cleaner sooty
Dropped into my local garage at lunchtime and spoke with the owner. He started the engine lifted the lid and said listen can you hear that? Hear what? I said all sounds good to me - you have a small leak at the manifold probably only the gasket but these things are known for cracking the manifold. Take off that cover and you'll soon find it. Man it must be great to have that knowlegde level. I'll let you know where I get to. 