Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Concerned about my '36 Packard Super Eight engine air filter working properly, I disassembled it only to find there is no filter media in it. It does have a coarse screen behind the louvers on the intake end but that would be good only for large bugs and leaf debris, not dust or dirt of any kind. It appears that this long horizontal canister is meant to muffle incoming air and not serve to clean it very well as I don't see any place to insert media. Should this filter have some kind of media and I'm missing how it could be installed? The shop manual indicates the car came with an AC filter but there is no mention of media or how to service it. An oil bath filter is also shown as an option.

Glen

The mesh probably has degraded. Depending on year/style it's either stuffed with kapok fiber or a metal mesh. If it's the metal mesh type, those choreboy copper mesh pot scrubbers make a good replacement.

Either way they need to lighted coated in oil which helps they grab finner dust/dirt. It needs be cleaned and re-oiled regularly. They is no element that gets regularly replaced like a modern paper filter.

The oil baths benefits from a pool of oil that captures all of that so doesn't need to be serviced as regularly.