Lots of oil coming out the breather on front axle.

[peteinjp]

So running with the hubs engaged but in 2wd I noticed there is a good about of oil coming out of the breather on the front axle. My patrol has direct hubs- always linked- and I have never had this issue. Any thoughts as to why the oil might be getting whipped up in there?

Pete

 

[lostmarbles]

So running with the hubs engaged but in 2wd I noticed there is a good about of oil coming out of the breather on the front axle. My patrol has direct hubs- always linked- and I have never had this issue. Any thoughts as to why the oil might be getting whipped up in there?

Pete

Hi Pete. sounds like you have a damaged seal.

Grease is made up of a "soap/oil mixture".

So if one of those seals in your diff housing is damaged and leaks birf-grease into your diff pumpkin .... the "thrashing around" of your crownwheel & pinion will foam-up your oil making it come out your breathers. (The soap causes the foam.)

I use molybdenum-disulphide grease in my birfs and when one of my seals went, this was also obvious from the very much darkened colour of my diff oil.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

While what lostmarbles writes is probably the issue, I have to ask if you very recently had the oil changed and fluids topped off? Leakage out the vent can be caused by this problem, and it can even push gear oil past the seals.

 

[peteinjp]

Well the truck is new to me. I think it may have been topped off right before I got it.

The reason the hubs are engaged is because the truck does not go into 4wd. I have replaced the hoses that were perished that go to the actuator and checked for vacuum- all good. Also blew on the hose that goes to the actuator- seems to be sealed. I'm hoping the transfer case will loosen up and it will pop into 4wd if I keep driving like this.

I really need to go thru it all and give everything some fresh fluids just to be sure its all good to go as it has been quite neglected. But the time thing is killing me. Lots of stuff needs to be done on the rig but........ work, kids etc.... same old story.

So what all is involved in getting new seals in the front axle?

Man I am dying for a factory manual- but toyota japan is kind hard to deal with........ I think I'll need to get one ordered from Oz or somewhere else that had the bj. THen I won;t need to ask so many questions all the time.

Thanks!

Pete

 

[bsevans]

If the breather is stuck open (this happens quite often) and it was run in water that was above the breather then you will find water in the diff oil. Oil is lighter than water and would be the first fluid to purge out of the breather. Crack the drain on the axle and if there is in fact water in the oil then you will see water come out first. You may need to fix the breather by replacing it or extending it with a hose to a higher location. I have extensions on both axles that run to an off road filter on the upper part of the firewall. The first photo shows the filter and the two extension lines from the axles. The second photo shows the conversion on the rear axle. The front axle is far easier.

 

[Chop Shop]

Grease leaking into the oil? Foaming up into soap, wow. Wow, thats a new one on me.

Ive always had the oil leak into the grease and then onto my tire sidewall.

The real problem is probably as stated above, it is most likely full of water (milkshake by now if you are driving it that ways) and way overfull and is pushing it out of the breather. If it is full of water it will expand even more when at running temp than just oil and push it out quickly.


Just change the oil and report back. It will cost less than $10 and take ten minutes.

 

[PixelWrangler]

Something else to look at, since this is a new rig to you, on level ground, take off the filler plug and see if it is just over full. Possibly the PO did the same thing I was doing. A few months back I was having oil blowing out of my rear differential through the breather. What was happening is this. The only place I have to work on my rig is a rented garage which I've been using for storage. There hasn't been anyway to pull the cruiser inside so I've been checking fluids outside, in the alley with the rig on a bit of a slope. I was checking and filling the gear boxes with the filler holes on the high side of the slope thinking this would be better than the other way around. So, like an idiot , I was always over filling my gear boxes and the turning axle would throw the oil up at the vent and of course it would leak out all over my axle. I've since only checked my fluid levels on level ground and the leaking has miraculously disappeared. Amazing!

Of course, also as already suggested, check to make sure that there isn't water or grease in there causing the overfull situation.

 

[peteinjp]

Well- for good measure I'll change the fluid and report back. However in Japan its more like a $30 job- price of oil is quite high. So GL-5 90wt is what the manual calls for. Guess I'll head over and see if I can find it at the parts store..... Most of what they have is just led lights and stuff to make you car look like a bad J-pop music video....

They don't even stock any belts....

Pete

 

[rusty_tlc]

Another vote for water in the diff.

Let us know what you find out.


BTW don't forget to get new crush washers. Re-using the crush washers will result in oil seeping out around the drain plug.

Also open the filler before you drain the oil, nothing worse than draining the oil out and finding out the filler plug is seized or the head is stripped when you go to refill.

 

[bsmith123]

oil and water soup

well at least if it is water it is cheaper than gears---wanna get it out before it starts getting rusty probably

Another vote for water in the diff.
Also open the filler before you drain the oil, nothing worse than draining the oil out and finding out the filler plug is seized or the head is stripped when you go to refill.

sounds like wisdom---bad experiences builds good judgement eh?


"Most of what they have is just led lights and stuff to make you car look like a bad J-pop music video...."


yup, aint it a shame? post up if you find a plastic chrome doohicky that works for more than 2 days

 

[rusty_tlc]

....


sounds like wisdom---bad experiences builds good judgement eh?

....

No first hand experience with this one, just a lot of reading here. There seems to be a HELP! thread about every six months or so with this problem.

Which is not to say I didn't learn a lot of stuff the hard way.