diff breather mod issue

I did the diff breather relocation mod on my 07 sport last week, following the instructions exactly....the only difference is that instead of using the black fuel line like most have, i used some clear hose that i had from another project...the mod itsself is incredibly easy and fast.....
but, i am concerned about condensation. i checked under the truck after a 25 mile drive, and a small amount of condensation was starting to form inside the hose about 6 inches up the hose from the union (i have checked back and it happens on any drive that is far enough to warm the diff). I want to assume that this happens to everyone who does the mod and has no affect on the diff/oil, but you just can't see it if you use the black hose. any thoughts???


fwiw, i went over the entire system and made sure there are no leaks, so any moisture that gets in is going through the breather near in the fuel cap.

 

breather on the end of the hose. got the union and the breather from toyota using the part numbers in the writup on here

 

haha, ford can do some weird shit. but yeah, that's what i'm thinking. must be normal and noone's noticed it b/c of the blace hose. stupic clear hose got me all paranoid

 

bump...any other thoughts?

 

I think your right with the fact that its just the clear hose vs. a black one and not having the view into it. I did the mod just this weekend and was surprised when I unscrewed the original diff. breather and it "aired" out a bit. Rubber, in a pretty tight environment with weather and heat probably has to equal just a bit of condensation right>? I wouldnt worry too much personally.

 

thanks garzanium.

i think i'm just gonna have to open the fill plug every couple weeks for a month or two and check to make sure the oil isn't getting milky with water. just have to beat my paranoia lol

 

Let us know if it starts becoming mixed badly, this would be good to know for all on TW

 

it actually seems like the issue has gone away i'm gonna be doing some suspension work on the truck this weekend, so while i'm under there i'll give it another check and let yall knowwhat i find.....it's about time for a rear diff fluid change anyway.

 

I believe that most of this would be correct. I don't think rubber has anything to do with it though. Anytime you heat something up and it cools quickly the condensation will form from the humidity in the air. This is why when you first start a car you get water comming from the exhaust. I think it is fine but since you have clear tubing you should just keep an eye on it and let us know.

 

been keeping an eye on it so far, more to report after theweekend hopefully. I also figure that with the temperatures the diff reaches, most/all condensation will evaporate out of the tube/oil pretty fast.

 

I guess water would be evaporated from the oil when the diff warms up long enough... ?

 

nope, I don't think (key word: think) diff gets hot enough to evaporate the water, if your diff is doing 90+ degrees then you have other issues....

does anyone know how hot diffs get?

 

this is in no way scientiffic, but my thinking is that if you have a drop of water on say your kitchen counter, if you leave it, iven if it's 65 degrees inside, it will dry up (go into the air). when it's hotter, it happens faster, my gues, with know knowlege to back it up, is that something similar might happen in the diff. it's obviously not boiling the water off though, which is why if you flood your dif with water, you need a change.

 

So I just got ready to do this mod, went in to my local toyota and all, I mean ALL of the part numbers I gave them they said are not valid. Does anyone know what p# I need for an 09 4x4? I can find them online but when I go in there they say nope!!!

 

the Union is

$8 90404-51319 Toyota Union - 90404-51319

90404-51319 now if they say that's not a valid part number there crazy i just bought one.

 

This sounds about right. One thing to consider is the temp in the tube is probable less than in the diff itself and may not just burn off. Also as soon as you stop the condensation will come back as it is from the moisture in the air.

 

Do you have a printer to copy my photo of the parts I got at my local Toyota dealer? Are these the part numbers you gave them? This was a couple weeks ago, Toyota Carlsbad (California not New Mexico)...



Here is the one you remove (14 mm or 9/16 wrench):



Here's what goes in its place (called a 'union'),with teflon tape on the threads (3 wraps):



Here is the (yellow coated, black rubber) 3/8 x 5/8 inch tube (6 ft. long)from Lowes Hardware. Running from the union up into the bed storage compartment:



Here is the one foot excess of tube pulled through the hole drilled in the storage copartment:



Here is the old threaded differential breather next to the new barbed one:



Here is the new breather on the end of the tube, after the excess foot was cut, and still plenty of slack for axle travel under the bed, pulled to the side of the storage area:



Got it?

 

I would think there is condensation because hot air expells the differential, by the tube, which is colder than the "now hot" diff. air exiting, and causes humidity in that air to condense on the walls of the tube.

Anyway that must be one of the reason toyota ask us to change diff oil every 48k kilometers if I remember well

 

I just bought that union 2 hours ago at the dealer in Roseville CA

 

YAH... big ones... If clear tube was cool, then why is it NONE of the tubes are clear in our truck???

Light (radiation), even indirect (like through clouds) warms the air... Warming the air condenses water vapor into water liquid... You have turned your breather tube into a water making factory (albeit on a very small scale)!

Use BLACK rubber, like Toyota does... I used the yellow coated black rubber pressure hose from Lowes... It stands out being yellow on the outside... but it is still a (black) rubber hose.