Leaking Front Diff Breather Causes?

currently letting the over fill drain out the fill plug its just barely dripping out now after a decent amount came out...gonna let it go till it stops draining completely

 

Sloppy job at Toyota... Too bad! Yes, on the rear diff breather mod (see the link in my sig.). It was the first mod I did after contaminating my rear diff after a water crossing.

 

Its pretty much stopped coming out. There is literally a drop every couple min. Gonna tighten er back up n go for a spin

 

Should be good to go. I never drained any of mine. What it blew out of the breather was enough to solve the problem for me.

 

No leaks everything is golden Thanks for your help man

 

I have had this same problem after installing an ARB locker. I even removed the locker and sent it back to East Coast Gear Supply because I thought it was leaking air into my diff. They said they did not find anything wrong but they went ahead and replaced all the seals while they had it apart.

 

Thats not cool...my problem is gone...was overfilled. Toyota told me specifically how much they put in there. My front locker is a harrop so thank god I dont have that potential problem

 

I am having the same problem on my 2005 4x4 tacoma. At first I thought it was leaking where cv meets front dif but it is definitely higher up. I am confused because I cleaned off the top of the breather and it remains clean while a considerable amount of gear oil is leaking out somewhere in the line. What throws me for a loop is when I top it off (engine fully cold) a drip forms right away on the bottom on cv axle near dif (driver side).

If there was a leak in the breather hose wouldn't it just leak when it was driven for a while and temp/pressure increased enough for it to push up breather til it hit the hole in the hose?

If there was leak where cv hits dif why would there be fluid much higher?

I last filled it months ago and had driven from sea level to 12k above sea level and negative temps to 80 degrees without issues. One day it just started leaking from somewhere between top of dif breather and cv axle meeting dif.

My guess is either bad breather hose or dif seal, but any suggestions are most welcome.

 

This looks to be my issue at the moment. so im guessing i just overfilled or maybe a bad hose/ hose clamp on the breather. My other thought is that.. i did have a cv axle leak for a bit after changing my cv axle, which caused me to replace my inner seal and the leak continued until i cleaned out the front diff breather which seemed to fix the cv axle leak and then once winter came around i noticed gear oil smell again and just found out its coming from the breather tube.

Best to just replace the whole tube with a bigger diameter and possibly that filter mod @Dirty Pool suggested?

 

Gonna revive this, and wanted to see if anyone has seen this happen in both breather lines. I'm gonna clean it off, and see which is acting up. Then I'll use some of the info in this thread. Scared the crap out of me. I haven't been having enough fun lately to earn a burp.

 

Yes thats what mine looked like after my diff barfed gear oil from toyota overfilling it. I would only put what you're manual states in it which is 1.1 quarts. Pretty sure it got oil all over both breathers

i also freaked when I saw a shit ton of fluid in my wheel well and all over tye place.

 

I believe I just had the same problem in Death Valley. Oil everywhere in driver's side wheel well and the diff breather tube saturated. Called my trip short, I thought that it was more serious, I hope that this is all it is! I'm glad I found your post.
@Unner

 

comawn frank, wheres your sense of adventure

 

Looks like I'm having the same issue oil leaking out the breather valve and making a mess.

I always thought you full the oil till it runs out the fill hole?

I've always done that with the rear diff, transmission and tcase.

So how much do I need to drain for the right amount to be in there?

Also my truck 5 speed has one breather valve but I see people here with 2?

Why do some have 2 breather valves?

 

1- front differential
1- T case

 

You have a part number on this filter,
I filled mine to the edge and now it’s all getting pushed though the breather vent

 

Since @Dirty Pool hasn't been on here in a month or so it looks like...

It's not a Toyota part, just an aftermarket fuel filter that fits a 3/8" ID hose - at least, I assume it's 3/8" since that's approximately the barb on the breather. Quick search for something that fits that bill. Take out the filter once you get it, and you're good to go.

• Red
• Black
• Chrome

You might pick up a new breather at the same time, just to refresh it while you're in there.

• 90930-03136 Plug Breather (or, this Dorman 924-284 is cheaper and works just as well)

Edit: I should note that these parts apply to all generations of Taco's, not just 1st gens

 

Thanks, I did put a new breather in, I will grab a 3/8” filter then and run with it

 

Mine looked like this today and freaked me out. I drove for two hours and only in 2wd. Thank you guys for threads like this.

which breather is the front diff?
How do you remove the breather? Just pull?

and I’m getting that fuel filter from post above. Should I install on both breathers in the wheel well or just for the front diff?

 

With that much oil on the differential underneath it might be the axle seal,
I only see some weeping on the vent breather