FJ62 wet diff breather (1 Viewer)

[jonnyd42]

It's been a few days since I've driven the 62, but I noticed that there is a leak coming from the rear diff breather. A few weeks ago I cleaned this whole area including the valve at the top. I did not replace the whole thing. It looks like the fluid is coming from the top of the breather and dripping down the hose since the whole thing is wet.

There are no other places on the axle that are leaking. Wondering if the best course of action at this point is to just replace the hose and the valve?

It looks like the hose and breather itself are no longer available. What's the best aftermarket hose & breather people recommend using? It looks like the clamp itself is still available though (P/N: 9613251100).

 

[3_puppies]

as far above the axle as the hose extends, there should never be fluid coming out the top of it
the oil should not be expanding that much, unless it is foaming
have you replaced the oil?
what oil are you using?
remove the fill plug and check level?

 

[franklin40]

are you sure the breather is working? is there pressure pushing oil out the hose junction? i had mine to that once the diff was filled way to full by a shop. it made a real mess. have you had the diff oil changed recently? i had a breather plug and it caused oil to push past the axle seals which then took out my brakes. it was a mess. i now just run a hose to the engine compartment with an open breather. if it’s above your air intake and you get water in your axles you’ve also got bigger problems!

 

[jonnyd42]

as far above the axle as the hose extends, there should never be fluid coming out the top of it
the oil should not be expanding that much, unless it is foaming
have you replaced the oil?
what oil are you using?
remove the fill plug and check level?

75W-85
Level is good

It's always done this, I think the valve at the top is plugged, so it's building up pressure and then the pressure goes past the weakest link (which is the breather) and out the top vs. the axle seals.

 

[diesellibrarian]

I've had my rear axle breather clog as well, and it pushed oil out past the cork diff cover gasket, which then atomized at speed and covered the back of my truck with a layer of gear oil. The breathers are easy to unclog. Hopefully that will do the trick for you.

 

[jonnyd42]

I've had my rear axle breather clog as well, and it pushed oil out past the cork diff cover gasket, which then atomized at speed and covered the back of my truck with a layer of gear oil. The breathers are easy to unclog. Hopefully that will do the trick for you.

I didn't like the quality of the dorman o'reilly breather, so I figured I'd try to unclog mine to start. Took it apart and cleaned it out with MAF cleaner + compressed air. The thing was completely blocked! It's "breathing" now, so will keep an eye on it but I think that did the trick.

 

[jonnyd42]

Fluid still leaks out of the cleaned one, so I picked up a new OEM 100 series breather since it's almost the exact same. Same issue! Fluid level checks out. Not sure what is causing this excess pressure and causing fluid to come up and out...

 

[SteveH]

I would remove the breather hose, slide on a piece of 3/8" fuel line, run the line up high, loop it over at the top, and install a small fuel filter on the end. This way, there is no 'vent cap' to stick or get saturated, and no pressure in the axle.

Run the diff vent as high as you can under the body. Some folks run the vent along the fuel tank filler neck hose, since it goes up high. Zip-tie everything in place.

 

[3_puppies]

after running it around awhile, pull the fill plug and see if the oil is foamy or if it is building/releasing pressure
maybe a temp gun also to see if it is getting hot

 

[quadrunner91]

My breather hoses were nasty due to the old rubber had degrading. It seemed the rubber had become permeable and the oil was soaking through and creeping.

I replaced them with some fuel line from Napa, cleaned the vents throughly, and all is well!

I’m not sure if mine had been replaced at some prior point, but the fuel line seemed like a very close substitute for the hose that was on there!