Disintegrated air filter

dropzone

Recruit
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
3
New to the forum and wanted to say thanks in advance for any help!

I have a 2009 Merc 115 4 stroke outboard (EFI) and the foam on the air filter has completely disintegrated. I purchased the boat/motor new in July and it has less than 40 hours on it. To my knowledge, the hose coming from the motor into the air filter blows oil vapor back into the intake to burn it in the engine to help with emissions. It appears that the geniuses at Merc used a foam that was not oil resistant, so it begins to deteriorate immediately. I have a friend with the same exact boat and motor and he has had the same problem. Wouldn't be that big of a deal if I could just replace it with a different type of filter, but there aren't any aftermarket filters to my knowledge...so I'm stuck shelling out another $80-90 for the same thing I have now. I called Merc and they said it likely wouldn't be covered under warranty since the filter is a "maintenance part".

Any suggestions here?
 

robert graham

Admiral
Joined
Apr 16, 2009
Messages
6,908
Re: Disintegrated air filter

Foam air filters or any air filters on outboard motors is something new to me, but if it's got one on it, must be some good reason, but usually very little dust or dirt out on the water. Maybe you could somehow replace that foam with a type of oil/gas resistant fiber filter, like a K&N, or similar? Maybe you could replace the present filter by making an oiled foam filter in the air intake opening in your motor cowl, thereby isolating it from the gas/oil? Probably lots of ways to skin that cat without just buying a new Mercury Gold$$$ filter element! Good Luck!
 

dropzone

Recruit
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
3
Re: Disintegrated air filter

I have attached a picture so it may be easier to understand what I'm talking about. It is part number 9 on the diagram. I have thought about just re-wrapping the filter frame with some aftermarket oil resistant foam (from K&N), but really didn't want to go that route if I didn't have to.

In a perfect world I was hoping that Merc has fixed this problem and all the new ones don't have this issue.:D

Merc air filter.jpg
 
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