Gen 2 rear axle breather.

[Wølf]

I'm on my 2nd hub seal in 4 weeks and now it's ####ing oil again, wheel bearing has no play so my final thought was maybe the breather was blocked. I unscrewed the little hollow pipe which was clear but I can't see into the threaded hole due to the exhaust being in the way/my heads too big, I did have a feel around with a screwdriver and it goes in about 1/2" then it just hits metal so it there another part to this breather inside the axle tube?

[Wølf]

Anyone know?
I'm driving to Scotland next weekend so ideally I would like to get it sorted by then.

[tashtego]

Hi,

is this the rear axle breather you are talking about? Have you extended it yourself? The screw that goes into the diff is basically a union, it's hollow, so that the gas can escape. Its continuation, the bit of the union that sticks out of the diff (i am sure it has a name) is the bit you push the tube onto if you are extending your breather.
If you have the standard, unextended diff breather with the wobbly cap, then remove it and clean it or even better change it, i think they are only a couple of quid from RT and such.

Fitting the hub seal kit is a fiddly job and a lot of people get it wrong, with the hub leaking again after a while if it's not done correctly. A lot of seals and retainers etc involved.

Cheers

[Wølf]

Hi yes it's the rear axle, the breather was extended by the previous owner so it just has the bit that the pipe pushes onto.
The hub seal is a pretty straightforward job and I've done a fair few of them but I just don't understand why this one keeps leaking.
I've bought a complete bearing kit just incase it's the retaining collar which the seal fits around is worn but typically when I left the engineering firm I worked for I forgot my home made hilux bearing removal tool and now they have chucked it.

[tashtego]

Hi yes it's the rear axle, the breather was extended by the previous owner so it just has the bit that the pipe pushes onto.
The hub seal is a pretty straightforward job and I've done a fair few of them but I just don't understand why this one keeps leaking.
I've bought a complete bearing kit just incase it's the retaining collar which the seal fits around is worn but typically when I left the engineering firm I worked for I forgot my home made hilux bearing removal tool and now they have chucked it.

Thats good, so we'll see if the kit does the job, is it the RT one?

Cheers

[Wølf]

Yes it's the RT one.
Would have been much better if they used tapered bearings on the rear with a fully floating half shaft setup.