I have a 55 Olds 88 with an oil bath air cleaner. It appears to be a sealed unit with a steel meshed filter on top. I can't find a way to open it to clean and refill with new oil. Can someone tell me the proceedure on these air cleaners, what type of oil and capacity, and draining of old oil? Thanks

 

I'll take pics of mine tomorrow morning if noone post one first.

 

My 55 Caddy has the same air cleaner. lit is NOT a sealed unit. It consists of 3 pieces: The upper/outer housing, the lower housing and the mesh filter.

Once the carburetor hold down wing nut is removed either the entire unit, or just the upper housing should be able to be removed. If your upper housing is stuck, it may take the application of a little force to get it off. Try spraying a rust penetrant or WD-40 on it.

Once you do get the top off, it would be wise to sand/steel wool and wax the two mating surfaces, to prevent the two housings from melding together again.

As for the oil refill, back in the day, it was recommended that SAE-40 be used in the summer.

Here is a link to a pic of the housing - Oil Bath

 

Thanks! I'll try the WD-40.

 

Bajaway. Once you get that air cleaner (batwing)apart you might wan't to convert it to a paper element, much easier to clean and works better than the oil system. I switched mine over years ago and have never regretted it. Try a search it should come up, if not I will pull mine apart and get you the numbers for the filter. It's a easy conversion, clean the upper and lower housings of the batwing leave out the wire mesh compleatly, pop in the paper elemrnt and reinstall on your car. You will like it and so will your car...Tedd

 

see if this picture helps