Date:         Tue, 18 Nov 2003 08:34:20 -0800
Reply-To:     laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Delanty <laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM>
Subject:      Re: What happens when you drive without an air filter?
In-Reply-To:  <b8.4b786022.2ceb8355@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 06:14 AM 11/18/2003, John wrote:
>1.  What kind of damage could be done?  I haven't driven in any dusty
>conditions and my van has only been used around town.
>2.  What should I do, if anything, to clean up the mess caused by a lack of
>air filter?
>3.  Should I go smack the mechanic around that was working on it when it
>surreptiously disappeared?

If the air is fairly clean it's only kind of bad....
If the driving conditions are dusty, it can be devastating.

Here's a true, worst case example of what CAN happen:

Once upon a time, part of my job description included rebuilding
diesel and gas engines for a industrial equipment rental yard.

One particular engine, a 3 cylinder Deutz Diesel had been run for
several days on a *very* dusty construction site. When the air filter
got so plugged it wouldn't run any more, one of the monkeys
removed it. Hey, runs fine without it. eh?
This had been a nearly new machine...  with about 120 hours on it.
We found out later it had probably been run 3 days (probably 20 hours)
without the filter....

It had no compression. The pistons and cylinders were complete
trash. When a piston was at TDC, you could rock it back and
forth in the cylinder about 3/16".
There was only about a quart of muddy oil left in the crankcase.
There were NO rings left on the pistons. They had been ground
down to the point where they got away from between piston
and cylinder. I found some thin, broken slivers of them in the sump.
The bearings and the crank were fairly well trashed from lack of
clean lubricant, and a small sliver of piston ring had gouged the
hell out of one of the crank journals.

I have no idea how it kept running so long.
I suppose the tremendous amount of blow-by kept the piston
overheated and expanded in the cylinder enough to have
enough compression to run...
Once it was shut down and cooled off, it was never gonna start
again.

The customer paid for a rather expensive rebuild on that one...

I suggest you vigorously pursue item #3 !!


Steve
EJ22 -> '86 Westy "Escape Pod"