M25 Canister Air Filter Element Replacement

Just a heads up to those folks that have the original round metal canister filters on their M25 Diesels. I opened mine up to see how dirty the element was, and it was nearly clean a a whistle inside. Yep, just one chunk of foamy filter material in the corner, Everything else gone. (I imagine ingested)

So I replaced it with the KN Filter that fits perfectly (K&N RU-2450) and found a neat way to route the crankcase breather hose back into the engine intake and eliminate fumes in the bilge. I am so proud of my new found rubber drilling skills, see image. (courtesy of youtube)

Is it ok to route any escaping crankcase fumes back to the intake without going through a filter? The Catalina folks seem to like the idea. They say it gets rid of that engine smell.

Doug

There are some good threads here about this filter.
Here is just one:
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?10244-M25XP-Air-Intake-woes/page2