Rear Diff. Breather

[shahsmerdis]

Hi everyone, I ordered a rear differential breather and going to replace it. my car is seriously rusted, but still structurally sound. The car is fluid filmed, so I can probably get a few more years life out of it. anyway.

After reading some posts, I drew the conclusion I should change out that rear diff vent quickly before i blow some seals. The car is seriously rusted, and I am wondering is there any chance that this will snap off if I try to take it out? I can apply penetrating oil every 12 hours for a week if that will help, or should I heat it up and rapidly cool it? I can't afford for this thing to strip out or break. What do you guys think? My plan was to brake clean the area, apply penetrating oil for a week, use a deep 6 point socket, (I think its 14mm) and slowly nudge it out. Question is should I use heat as well? is a smaller wrench better? Any other tips? Is it worth getting toyota to do it, and putting the risk on them?

either way the plan is to record a video of it, or do a before and after pic and post that.

Thanks.

 

[DK327]

I suggest lubing it up with Sea Foam DC-14 Deep Creep Lubricant. In my experience it worked better than PB Blaster.

 

[Myrunr2010]

If it breaks off you should be able to get it the rest of the way out with an extractor.

 

[shahsmerdis]

If it breaks off you should be able to get it the rest of the way out with an extractor.

Wouldn't bits of metal in the diff be death to the diff?

 

[Sadkins23]

Wouldn't bits of metal in the diff be death to the diff?

If you got bits of metal in the diff you could always drain the gear oil out of the diff and replace it, right? I mean thats just what i would do. Hope all goes well!:hello:

 

[diverscale]

The worst that could happen is that you strip the nut. Then, use a vice-grip and get it out.

On mine it was pretty rusted, and it got out with a simple combination wrench, using hard hand hits on the wrench to un-stick it.

 

[Myrunr2010]

Wouldn't bits of metal in the diff be death to the diff?

I was thinking if it was going to break off, it would shear off in one piece, not crumble, but who can say?

 

[St Runner]

If it is really bad I wire brush all the rust off the threads with a dremel then soak it with pb blaster and let it go through a drive cycle so it heats and cools . Then use the poor mans impact driver - Hammer and a box wrench

 

[Twan]

Here's what mine looked like, and it came out easily with just a 14mm ratcheting wrench, no penetrating lube or anything.

 

[Pot Hole]

I'm probably going to have to do this mod to my son's 4runner. Where is a good place to order the modified breather stem like the one pictured above?

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Hi everyone, I ordered a rear differential breather and going to replace it. my car is seriously rusted, but still structurally sound. The car is fluid filmed, so I can probably get a few more years life out of it. anyway.

After reading some posts, I drew the conclusion I should change out that rear diff vent quickly before i blow some seals. The car is seriously rusted, and I am wondering is there any chance that this will snap off if I try to take it out? I can apply penetrating oil every 12 hours for a week if that will help, or should I heat it up and rapidly cool it? I can't afford for this thing to strip out or break. What do you guys think? My plan was to brake clean the area, apply penetrating oil for a week, use a deep 6 point socket, (I think its 14mm) and slowly nudge it out. Question is should I use heat as well? is a smaller wrench better? Any other tips? Is it worth getting toyota to do it, and putting the risk on them?

either way the plan is to record a video of it, or do a before and after pic and post that.

Thanks.

Try to wrench it off. A socket around it works best. Use a 3/8 drive. Don't use a lot of force. If it doesn't come loose. Heat it up with some MAPP gas. Every bolt, and I mean every bolt, I thought was going to break, I heated it up, and it came off rather easy. My last truck was a rust bucket so I have a ton of experience with this. Just scope out the area, so when your heating it, the flame doesn't splash on something that can melt, or worse, catch fire.
FYI, my breather came out with no heat and, as I said, that truck was very rusty.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

I'm probably going to have to do this mod to my son's 4runner. Where is a good place to order the modified breather stem like the one pictured above?

I think that maybe the one Toyota uses on the front dif

90930-03136 - Genuine Toyota PLUG, BREATHER

 

[Twan]

The part number above is correct. I used some 3/8" ID fuel hose, clamps, and these two parts for my extension:
Toyota Union Fitting- #90404-51319
Toyota Breather Plug- # 90930-03136

 

[shahsmerdis]

Try to wrench it off. A socket around it works best. Use a 3/8 drive. Don't use a lot of force. If it doesn't come loose. Heat it up with some MAPP gas. Every bolt, and I mean every bolt, I thought was going to break, I heated it up, and it came off rather easy. My last truck was a rust bucket so I have a ton of experience with this. Just scope out the area, so when your heating it, the flame doesn't splash on something that can melt, or worse, catch fire.
FYI, my breather came out with no heat and, as I said, that truck was very rusty.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

When I say my car has the cast of the crusty's it does ! Attached. Its reassuring that this screw is not prone to stripping. I was going brush down the area, Tap tap tap, penetrating oil + ATF/acetone , 3/8th drive + 6 point socket. I only have those propane torches from home depot. So I don't think it will get that hot.

Unfortunately I am not doing a breather extension. its going to be 40 degrees, and this is the quickest thing to last me until the next time it rusts. better to do something than nothing. I wish toyota just the did extension from the factory to begin with. probably would have saved a lot of rear axle seals

FYI: The liquid you see in the second picture is penetrating oil that i sprayed on the shocks, not a leak. Luckily I caught this car in time, my dad was going to let it die, a little bit of love and 1k hopefully it gives us 3-4 more years of life, it only has 110k miles on. FF the axle so the pumpkin doesn't leak.

Summer will be trans cooler by pass and brake fluid flush, maybe a valve cover gasket fix, and then she will be set for 3-4 years. The car has a new OEM cat in it so I dont want to give up on it yet. ( OEM Cat provided under warranty by toyota)

 

[Myrunr2010]

It is interesting that toyota didn't do something better from the factory considering the front diff has its breather up in the engine compartment.

 

[shahsmerdis]

It is interesting that toyota didn't do something better from the factory considering the front diff has its breather up in the engine compartment.

probably didnt know where to put it? lol

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

When I say my car has the cast of the crusty's it does ! Attached. Its reassuring that this screw is not prone to stripping. I was going brush down the area, Tap tap tap, penetrating oil + ATF/acetone , 3/8th drive + 6 point socket. I only have those propane torches from home depot. So I don't think it will get that hot.

Unfortunately I am not doing a breather extension. its going to be 40 degrees, and this is the quickest thing to last me until the next time it rusts. better to do something than nothing. I wish toyota just the did extension from the factory to begin with. probably would have saved a lot of rear axle seals

FYI: The liquid you see in the second picture is penetrating oil that i sprayed on the shocks, not a leak. Luckily I caught this car in time, my dad was going to let it die, a little bit of love and 1k hopefully it gives us 3-4 more years of life, it only has 110k miles on. FF the axle so the pumpkin doesn't leak.

Summer will be trans cooler by pass and brake fluid flush, maybe a valve cover gasket fix, and then she will be set for 3-4 years. The car has a new OEM cat in it so I dont want to give up on it yet. ( OEM Cat provided under warranty by toyota)

Wow, yours is definitely worse than mine was. How's the back of the rear differential housing look?
You could use the propane. You don't have to get it super hot. Also, HD sells the MAPP gas (the yellow bottles) and you can use the same torch head.

 

[shahsmerdis]

Wow, yours is definitely worse than mine was. How's the back of the rear differential housing look?
You could use the propane. You don't have to get it super hot. Also, HD sells the MAPP gas (the yellow bottles) and you can use the same torch head.

surprisingly no holes yet! The one place i realized I didnt check was the frame where the fuel tank meets the frame. that can be one problem area, Im scared to look. I think I caught it before it became a problem.

I dont have any pictures of back of the rear diff ,but ill be looking this weekend. Maybe ill put my pipe camera into the frame and see how it looks internally.

ill report back this weekend

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

surprisingly no holes yet! The one place i realized I didnt check was the frame where the fuel tank meets the frame. that can be one problem area, Im scared to look. I think I caught it before it became a problem.

I dont have any pictures of back of the rear diff ,but ill be looking this weekend. Maybe ill put my pipe camera into the frame and see how it looks internally.

ill report back this weekend

The rust is usually worse on the other side next to the muffler. Easier to spot too.

 

[shahsmerdis]

The rust is usually worse on the other side next to the muffler. Easier to spot too.

That is true, heat makes it works. was crusty, but frame is still solid around there. surprisingly the frame isn't as bad, more the suspension components, control arms, axle, things closer to the ground. BTW the bottom picture is after we stripped some of the flaky rust. the top picture was before.