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Air Filter Canister Breather hole

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2026 9:08 am
by Wes
Anyone know why the hole in the Air filter canister breather inlet is only about 1/8" versus the pipe from the rocker cover thats 1/2"?

Re: Air Filter Canister Breather hole

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2026 9:41 am
by philthehill
It reduces the suck - so that you do not get oil being sucked from the engine onto the air filter element and into the engine.
If your engine is in good condition then the hole can be opened up to 1/2". The small hole is a get around for worn engines.

Re: Air Filter Canister Breather hole

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2026 10:20 am
by svenedin
The other thing that reduces oil contamination of the air filter element is the baffle in the rocker cover. The pipe on the rocker cover has a metal baffle on the inside of the rocker cover to reduce liquid oil getting sucked in to the air filter. If this baffle is missing, the air filter can get soaked in oil which is also seen with very worn engines with severe blow-by.

Stephen

Re: Air Filter Canister Breather hole

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2026 11:03 am
by Wes
All good points. Reason for asking is that as i'm now in palliative care mode, to eek out the life of my engine, ive now routed the engine block breather (via a catch pot) to the filter too. Just thought the 1/8" hole may not be big enough now?

Re: Air Filter Canister Breather hole

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2026 1:18 pm
by philthehill
Here is the restrictor as fitted to the rocker cover breather outlet.
The restrictor has been removed and is just below the breather vent pipe.
The rocker cover was fitted to a 1098cc MG Midget.
Rocker cover restrictor 2.jpg
Rocker cover restrictor 2.jpg (90.11 KiB) Viewed 324 times

Re: Air Filter Canister Breather hole

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2026 1:46 pm
by svenedin
This is the baffle that stops liquid oil being drawn up through the rocker breather pipe.

Stephen

IMG_3948.jpeg
IMG_3948.jpeg (1.81 MiB) Viewed 306 times

Re: Air Filter Canister Breather hole

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2026 3:01 pm
by philthehill
There were several types of baffle fitted to prevent oil passing through the breather pipe
Rocker cover restrictor 1.jpg
Rocker cover restrictor 1.jpg (90.36 KiB) Viewed 283 times

Re: Air Filter Canister Breather hole

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2026 9:24 am
by Wes
Thanks