Series Land Rover (Australia & NZ)
Serving the Series 1, Series 2, Series 3 and other Land Rover communities worldwide.

A Series 1,2 or 3 Land Rover has an oil bath air cleaner fitted as standard equipment. The idea of this system is that air is drawn into the large cylindrical body of the air cleaner through a ring of slotted openings around the top circumference. The air is then drawn down through a course wire mesh element which is bathed in standard engine oil. The mesh serves to filter out any large airborn particles. The air is then pulled through a bath of oil lying in the bottom of the cylindrical body. The drawing force for this process is caused by the air cleaner outlet being connected to the carburettor, and it is the induction of the piston cylinder downstrokes which cause the air to be pulled through the cleaner and into the carburettor.

Servicing the air cleaner is carried out by removing the air intake hose from the carburettor then releasing the metal retaining strap over the top of the unit and lifting the unit free of the Land Rover. The oil container unit at the bottom is removed by releasing the clips, then the wire mesh filter can be removed and access to the oil gained.

A Series Land Rover operating in normal conditions should have the oil changed every 4,000 miles and more frequently if operating in dusty or sandy conditions. As well as replacing the oil with standard engine oil, the wire mesh element should be cleaned in fuel and the main body of the air cleaner cleaned also. Ideally a new rubber seal should be fitted between the upper and lower levels of the air cleaner body else oil may be lost by leakage since the drawing of air through the system during operation causes the oil to be splashed around significantly.

Refitting is the reversal of the dismantling process and it is important to enure that an air tight seal is restored between the air cleaner elbow and the carburettor intake.

The oil bath cleaner unit has served the Series Land Rover well in a wide variety of environments but if compliance with originality is not a problem then it is best replaced with a more efficient and less maintenance dependant unit such as a K&N paper air filter which may last the remaining life of the vehicle depending upon operational environment.