04 Tacoma Breather Mod - Rerouting everything

I’ve been slowly, but surly, modding my 2004 Tacoma for some offroad fun. I have an 04 Ext Cab Tacoma V6 manual (Lo-Hi shifter, one touch 4x4). I decided to tackle the project of relocating the various breather ports high in the engine compartment. I originally found, and relied heavily on, Shadow-Warrior’s Scuba Mod for his FJ Cruiser (http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/of...f-tranny-transfer-case-e-locker-breather.html). I love poking around my truck and wanted to find all the breather ports aside from the rear diff. The Toyota factory manual I found on the internets does NOT show all the locations. For my truck, they are as follows;

Rear Diff
Rear Diff E-Locker
Transmission (x2)
Transmission to Transfer case (via rubber tube)
Transfer case to 4x4 actuator (via rubber tube)
Front Diff (already in located in engine compartment)
Front Diff actuator (I think. This part looks like an E-locker/actuator, but I could not find it anywhere in the Toyota factory service manual. I have a picture further along in the How-to if anyone knows what it is.)

Parts
15 ft 1/4 fuel hose
6 ft 3/16 fuel hose
Toyota Camry Fuel Line Union Part #

$7 90404-51026 Intake Air Control Valve Union

90404-51026
1/4 hose spring clamps (red in pictures)
7/16 hose spring clamps (blue/green in pictures)
Zip ties
Small piece 16ga or 22ga steel
Can of Rustolem
1 - 3/16 Y-connector
2 – 3/16 T-connector
2 – 3/16 Elbow connector
Small breather filter
The filter is made by Spectre, they come in a few different colors and look similar to a K&N. I went with red, part # 3992.

Equipment
Pliers
Utility knife/ Exacto knife
Thread sealant
JB Weld 2 part epoxy
Phillips head screwdriver
Flat head screwdriver
Flat head 90 degree screwdriver
Small crescent wrench


NOTE: Due to the MacGyver factor of this project, I spent a good amount of time ensuring the parts I used fitted together properly. You should do the same and not take my parts list as a “this will work all the time” list.

Here are the guts of the project


Here is the tube from the 4x4 actuator to the transfer case.



From transmission to transfer case



Front diff actuator and tube


Front diff and actuator breather extensions




The rear diff breather was easily removed with a crescent wrench. I added some thread sealant to the back portion of the new union’s threads so none dripped into the oil when the union was screwed in. I attached the 1/4 fuel line to the rear diff and routed it to the engine compartment. Next, I removed the E-Locker’s rubber tube and fitted some new 3/16 fuel hose and spliced it into the new main line.

E-Locker port



Rear diff and E-Locker tied in



The E-Locker originally had an extension, but it was only routed to the interior of the frame above the rear driver side wheel.






Attaching the new breather hose to the transmission took a bit of work. Below is a picture of the rear diff breather components.


The transmission’s ports are a part of the casing. They are not threaded in like the rear diff. However, the transmission ports are copies of the rear diff. To remove the original breather caps that were on the transmission, I wedged an angled screwdriver under the cap and torqued it to deform the cap. I rotated the cap until I had deformed all four sides and it popped off. I obtained two 90 elbows that were slightly larger than the interior diameter of the breather port. The barb was shaved off with a utility knife, then sanded to fit into the breather port. I cleaned the breather ports with a bit of paper towel and Q-Tips. Both were then sealed in place with JB Weld applied only to the first 3mm from the elbow joint. This ensured none of the epoxy dripped into the gears or oil and made a nice “life preserver” of JB Weld around the new port. While the JB Weld was hardening, I spliced into the main breather line and added the junction to the transmission.

Transmission cap removal



One down, one to go



New transmission port



Both ports welded in place



Both transmission ports connected after the JB Weld hardened



Transmission ports 1 and 2 spliced into junction



And then into the main breather line



Just as Shadow-Warrior did on his FJ Cruiser, I fabricated a metal bracket to mount the new breather filter on.




I plan on replacing the transmission to transfer to 4x4 actuator hoses with new fuel hose and clamps. I’m just picky that way. The front diff and actuator are also getting new hose, clamps and getting spliced into the main breather line.

Blue Skies,
SkydivingNerd

 

hey man, thanks for this write-up with pics! i just did the rear dif breather last weekend and followed part of this, including using the spectre filter. looks great and it will surely provide some good peace of mind while hitting the deeper water! i'll be doing the relocation for the other breathers in the coming weeks, but i just wanted to drop a quick note of thanks for your write-up!