I was hearing some bearing noise from the Kilby onboard air compressor and remembered that I hadn't added oil in more than a year. that's a bad idea if you want the compressor to last. adding oil actually won't fix the bearing noise or even effect it-I'll tackle that job in a later post-but it will help insure that the compressor continues to function properly by staying well lubricated.
In order to access the oil fill hole I had to remove the Airaid air cleaner and cold-airdam it doesn't take very long but some of the mounting bolts are a pain to reach. I couldn't find my ratchet wrenches, which would have made it even easier, but a socket worked just the same aside from taking a bit longer.
Before I pulled the air cleaner I noticed that it might benefit from a cleaning and figured I do it since I already had it off. But, of course, my air cleaner kit was still packed away somewhere and after a brief search in the spots I thought it may be stashed I gave up. resigned to re-installing a dirty air cleaner I tapped the filter on the tire a few times to knock out the big stuff and then took a look inside. suprisingly, it was actually really clean. Not a speck of dirt on the well-oiled interior. though i at least should've blown it out with some high-pressure air (shop compressor-at my buddy's house; on-board air-currently disassembled) I just slapped it back onthere anyhow. I'll get back to you'all shortly with an air cleaner cleaning entry real soon i'm sure.
With the air cleaner and air-dam removed i was able to reach the oil-fill hole. that's it on the side of the compressor where the bolt is removed.
A search of the very unorganized pack-rat garage of mine revealed a few funnel choices, though not one of them had a small enough nozzle to fit in the compressor's oil fill hole. Well, i really only tried the smallest funnel but i thought i'd stick the enormously large yellow one in there just for fun.
I remedied the funnel issue with a short length of clear hose that i found by chance in the bottom of my tool box. it wouldn't fit in the funnel though so i wrapped a bit of duct tape around it until it wedged in to the nozzle. I actually even had to use a razor blade to trim a bit ofthe hose exterior to fit it in the hole but it eventually worked very well.
With the funnel and hose creation in place i was ready to add some oil. It doesn't take much-less than half a quart, so you can understand the necessity to check it periodically.
I used this Kilby-supplied dip stick to check the fluid level in the compressor. you kind of need to just snake it to the bottom to get an accurate reading. there are notches on the dip stick that indicate fluid level.