Extending breather tubes - I searched

[Mighty.Mighty_XJ]

I wanted to extend the axle breather tubes. I now have the rear running through a hole in the trunk up under the rear seat. Are there any cons to having it vent there? I did a search using the terms vent, breather & tube & read pretty much everything that was relative and maybe 1 person vented it inside the cab. Will it "exhale" stinky diff fluid odor into the XJ? Any chance of it puking oil later down the road?

I'm also working on other vent tubes & I really would prefer not to run too-long tubing anywhere. Any suggestions as to the "best" place to vent the others? Pics of your setup would be great.
Thx

 

[joe_peters]

Ok. Open a bottle of gear lube and take a real deep whiff of it, drawing its aromatic flavor deep into your lungs.

That is the "CON" to venting it into the passenger cabin.

 

[tazz]

Ok. Open a bottle of gear lube and take a real deep whiff of it, drawing its aromatic flavor deep into your lungs.

LOL thats a good way of putting it!

 

[xjtrailrider]

I have mine vented there and have never had any gear lube odor.

 

[crimsondragon]

Personally, if I had to vent it, it wouldn't be in the cabin on the off chance it does vent diff fluid into the cabin. If you feel like you have to, as far aft as possible. My suggestion is mounting it inside the rear bumper somewhere.

 

[srmitchell]

You might try putting the hose up into the rear driverside quarter panel near the tail light.

Theres lots of space behind the plastic, and its where all the factory wiring is.

 

[Lodi Jim]

Vent the rear dif up to the gas fill area, and top with factory vent cap.
Run the tranny and front dif to area between brake master cylinder and driverside inner fender with oem vent caps.

 

[tazz]

Vent the rear dif up to the gas fill area, and top with factory vent cap.
Run the tranny and front dif to area between brake master cylinder and driverside inner fender with oem vent caps.

That sounds like good places if you ask me?

 

[Wayne Sihler]

Also dont forget the Transfer case---

Wayne

 

[ehall]

I left the front axle hose where it was. For the transfer case and transmission, I installed new hoses and vent caps, ran the lines up the dipstick and then clamped them in place with zip ties. I bought the breather caps from the GM dealership, the old part number was 8640496 but it's superseded. Here is a pic of the tranny and transfer case vents.

I currently have the rear tube tucked up into the rear shock crossmember. I'd like to run it further up, probably into the gas cap area, but I haven't done it yet.

 

[Mighty.Mighty_XJ]

I'm digging all the suggestions guys, thanks. A few very promising locations - I can't wait to check 'em out. joepeters - point well taken (and I was feeling so clever).
Well, I'm getting ready to crawl under the ol' gal now, but before I go ... is drilling required for the gas cap area? I particularly like that one (also saw it in my search). I want that sucker up as far as possible because Wharton State Forest is a water trap & tho I avoid wheeling there, sometimes I get sucked in - no pun intended. Also, someone I spoke to had told me that in order to extend the tranny vent, the tranny would have to be dropped. PLEASE say it isn't so!

(If any of my questions are naive, please forgive me - I tinker, but I'm by no means an expert)

 

[kastein]

It can be a pain in the ass to get to the tranny vent tube, stock location is right at the top of the bellhousing iirc. If you can reach down around the back of the motor you can get to it, though it's messy. If not that, you don't have to fully drop the tranny but it would help to remove the tranny crossmember and TC linkages (and maybe driveshafts, and unplug some O2 sensors etc) and lower the tranny with a bottle jack... note, put the bottle jack under the tranny first! This should give you enough room to reach up along the top of the trans from below.

I forget where the tranny vent tube plugs into the housing, if it's somewhere along the sides you can just unplug it there, snake the new one down, and plug it in, and leave the old one in till you have to pull the drivetrain for something else.

 

[Mighty.Mighty_XJ]

Thanks, kastein. Lord that sounds like something I would be afraid to tackle! Knowing me I would mess the tranny up by unbolting stuff - plus I have this HD X-member & large skids under there ...

So this morning I looked under the hood & I found another vent on the passenger side of the block near the tranny dipstick. Which vent is this? Of course I located the one for the front axle bit I couldn't find any others anywhere. So where do they all come out?
Is there any reason why I can't extend the tubes from the venting end, & not where they actually enter the body? So if I know where the tube ends up, maybe I can work from that end like I did with the rear axle. I simply joined the original with an extension.

 

[kastein]

No reason at all you can't do that, just make it watertight and keep em away from driveshafts and exhaust system and you're good to go. They're under zero/almost zero pressure.

 

[MoparManiac]

Here's where they all end up:

Transmission vent = middle of trans dipstick tube
Transfer case vent = top of trans bellhousing
Rear axle vent = plug on the inside of the frame directly above the outlet of the axle
Front axle vent = drivers side firewall by the brake booster

You can just extend them.

 

[Mighty.Mighty_XJ]

Here's where they all end up:

Transmission vent = middle of trans dipstick tube
Transfer case vent = top of trans bellhousing
Rear axle vent = plug on the inside of the frame directly above the outlet of the axle
Front axle vent = drivers side firewall by the brake booster

You can just extend them.

aah ... Thanks mucho. So it's the t'fercase vent I haven't found yet, but I'm working on it. I have real skinny arms so I should be able to feel it ... we'll see.

Well, it's off to work in a bit.
Thx guys.

 

[techno1154]

So this morning I looked under the hood & I found another vent on the passenger side of the block near the tranny dipstick. Which vent is this?

That should be the one from the neutral start switch on the tranny (on the AW4). Follow it and see where it go to.

I think the AW4 and the Transfer Case vents are both on the driver side close to the D30 vent if IRC.

 

[Prappas]

Anyone can help me locate the "manual" trasmition breather??

Thanks folks

 

[offroadordnance]

I was intending on running my vent lines up and over along the rear hatch weatherstrip with hardline. I get where the front and rear diff vents are, but I am having problems locating the transfer case and tranny vents hoses. Where are they or are
they high enough not to worry?

 

[OutkastBoss]

umm you resurected an almost year old thread to ask a question already answered in it ?