Air cleaner

Air is one of the three factors necessary to produce combustion.

Air consists of oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases. It is the oxygen in the air that is necessary for combustion.

During combustion the nitrogen and other gases pass through combines with two atoms of oxygen forming carbon dioxide (CO₂), which passes through the exhaust system as a gas.

With a rich gasoline mixture, carbon monoxide (CO), a poisonous gas consisting of one atom of carbon and one atom of oxygen, is formed because insufficient oxygen is available to form carbon dioxide. Two atoms of hydrogen from the gasoline with one atom of oxygen form water (H₂O). Approximately 11/3 gallons of water are produced for each gallon of gasoline burned.

Each pound of gasoline must be mixed with approximately 15 pounds of air or putting it another way, an engine at sea level operating at 70^o F. requires approximately 1250 cubic feet of air for each gallon of gasoline used.

Air, even during normal operation conditions, contains dust and abrasives that contaminate the lubricating oil, which is continuously circulated. These foreign substances damage there closely fitted parts; therefore, filtering devices have been installed to reduce the amount off foreign material entering the engine. One of them is the air cleaner.

A dry type air cleaner consisting of an air cleaner body, a filter element, and an air cleaner cover is mounted above the carburetor.

The filtering action of the air cleaner is accomplished by means of a dry filter element consisting of a band accordion pleated filter paper encased in a wire mesh screen. The air enters the air cleaner through the opening on the side, passes through a silencing clamber, then trough the filter. The cleaned air is deflected down to the carburetor. The dust particles air is trapped in the filter element as the air rushes trough it.