Breather Hoses and water crossings

[Colicious]

how many breather hoses does the 100 have? is there only 1 on the rear axle or is there any on the front diff, transmission, etc, etc? is there anything else i have to do to prepare for water crossings? i heard of possibly duct taping the doors to seal them. and i heard the max wading depth for a stocker is like 28inches, so i guess mine should be around 33" with tires and lift. this is with no snorkle, btw

 

[SR.GRINGO]

Keep in mind I have an 80 but it should be the same school of thought. I do lots of water crossings..... Get some rtv silicone and seal up the distrib., sparkplug seals. You should also put extended breathers on the trans, transfer, fr&rr diff, gas tank, starter. Consider a snorkel--if you get too deep things will get expensive in a hurry.

 

[Colicious]

are the breathers on the transmission and transfer case on the 80 easy to see from below, or are they on top where you had to feel around for them?

 

[Dandon]

Don't know about the 80, but in the 100, breather hoses are easy to see on the rear and center diff. I haven't looked at the front diff yet.
BTW, don't get crazy looking for the distributor... there isn't any

 

[Travis351]

I thought I better bring this thread back to life. I pushed the 70mm mark last weekend at Big Cypress. I don't think the rear diff breather got dunked, but sure would like to check at least the front and rear diff oil. It is brand new Amsoil, so I would rather not do a total change unless absolutely necissary.

Is it better to check the fluid hot for the dreaded milkshake from the fill hole or cold from the drain hole when the water should be lurking at the bottom? Any tricks?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I thought I better bring this thread back to life. I pushed the 70mm mark last weekend at Big Cypress. I don't think the rear diff breather got dunked, but sure would like to check at least the front and rear diff oil. It is brand new Amsoil, so I would rather not do a total change unless absolutely necissary.

Is it better to check the fluid hot for the dreaded milkshake from the fill hole or cold from the drain hole when the water should be lurking at the bottom? Any tricks?

If you are worried, you should just change it. This is why expensive synthetics can come back to bite you. It's totally normal to not want to change $50 worth of diff oil. This is why I have gone to using conventional gear oils in most of my applications.

If you want to check, though, I would run it at speed and check immediately at the fill plug. If it's emulsified at all, that's your signal to change, regardless of how much the diff oil cost.

There was an article about FJ4X use in Africa during the flood season in Toyota Trails a few years back, They spoke of changing the gear oil daily.

 

[spressomon]

On the 100 you have a rear differential breather, a rear locker breather (e-locker), the tranny breather is the dipstick, front differential and t-case breather. I used 1/4" fuel line hose (you can also use vacuum hose), t-fittings and ran them along the frame (zip tie them out of the way and securely) to the high on the firewall...where they terminated to a small fuel filter.

 

[100 TD]

On the 2003 5 speed tranny, the tranny breather runs up seperately to the dipstick tube and the joins on to the side of the dip stick tube but does not breath into the tube IIRC, just breathes into the atmosphere on the side of the tube. Does the 343 4 speed breather actually join into the dipstick tube or just sit on the outside?

 

[spressomon]

On the 2003 5 speed tranny, the tranny breather runs up seperately to the dipstick tube and the joins on to the side of the dip stick tube but does not breath into the tube IIRC, just breathes into the atmosphere on the side of the tube. Does the 343 4 speed breather actually join into the dipstick tube or just sit on the outside?

On my '99 it tees into the dipstick tube.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

On my '99 it tees into the dipstick tube.

I would look at it very carefully Dan. The 100 might be different, but I doubt it. The breather tubes come up to the side of the dipstick tube and attach to little hose barbs there. They are just open vents. It looks like the tube is the breather, but it isn't. You can pull the hoses off the barbs and extend to the top of the firewall to minimize you chance of water intrusion.

 

[spressomon]

I would look at it very carefully Dan. The 100 might be different, but I doubt it. The breather tubes come up to the side of the dipstick tube and attach to little hose barbs there. They are just open vents. It looks like the tube is the breather, but it isn't. You can pull the hoses off the barbs and extend to the top of the firewall to minimize you chance of water intrusion.

Thanks Andy...I'll take another look. The FSM for my '99 shows two breather hoses running from the rear of the tranny into the dipstick tube. Why do you think they would have two breathers?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Thanks Andy...I'll take another look. The FSM for my '99 shows two breather hoses running from the rear of the tranny into the dipstick tube. Why do you think they would have two breathers?

There is a bit of plumbing on the top of the combo, but I think one is tranny and one is t-case. You will find that where they attach doe not communicate with the dip tube. If you go in any water at all, they should be extended. There is no valve or other 1 way device to prevent water intrusion. Weird for what is supposed to be an "all-world" truck.

I just extended mine up to the firewall and capped with a small fuel filter. 10 minutes of work and $3 total cost.

 

[spressomon]

There is a bit of plumbing on the top of the combo, but I think one is tranny and one is t-case. You will find that where they attach doe not communicate with the dip tube. If you go in any water at all, they should be extended. There is no valve or other 1 way device to prevent water intrusion. Weird for what is supposed to be an "all-world" truck.

I just extended mine up to the firewall and capped with a small fuel filter. 10 minutes of work and $3 total cost.

The t-case on mine had it's own dedicated breather just like the diffs (which terminates with the diff's at a fuel filter high on the firewall). I'll have time tomorrow to crawl under mine and figure out what's going on with the tranny breathers...thanks for the head's up!

 

[bluecruiser]

what does the rear locker breather look like? I don't remember seeing that..

 

[spressomon]

what does the rear locker breather look like? I don't remember seeing that..

You need to remove the thin stamped metal locker shield to access the breather hose. I just tied mine into the diff breather hose...that I ran up to the small fuel filter that resides high on the firewall. Otherwise water can be sucked up into the diff via the locker breather hose. I didn't even know it was there until I had the entire diff apart last year.

FYI: The e-locker sits on the top side of the axle housing on the PS side of the rear diff housing. You'll figure it out...it's the only part back there atop of the housing with electrical wires running to it...

 

[100 TD]

On my '99 it tees into the dipstick tube.

Let me know what you find Spresso, as I thought it was a poor design on the 03 just open to the atmosphere, hence notifying you.

I wonder what they have done with them on the 04 which doesn't have a dipstick in the tranny, others with the later models may want to check this out.

 

[Travis351]

My Amsoil dealer called me back and said that if I could let the truck sit for around 48 hours, any water would have had the time to separate from the oil and a slight loosening of the drain plug should be all that's needed to salvage the gear oil.

Anyone have an opinion on this advice?

 

[spressomon]

Ok...here's a couple pics of where the two tranny breather hoses connect to the tranny dipstick on my '99 100. Short of pulling the dipstick out completely...it appears the connection is solid and water tight. Judge for yourselves.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

It isn't though. There is no connection between the hoses and the dipstick tube. inside that metal fitting, the ends of the barbs are just open to the air. You still need to extend the breather hoses.

 

[spressomon]

It isn't though. There is no connection between the hoses and the dipstick tube. inside that metal fitting, the ends of the barbs are just open to the air. You still need to extend the breather hoses.

Thanks Andy! What a weird place for Toyota to terminate tranny breathers!