Differential/Trans Breathers?

[Expedition Dave]

Hi, I am looking for any info I can on adding aftermarket front/rear diff and a trans breathers. I have a Gen 4 but figure they would be very similar to the Gen 3s as far as style and locations.

Thank you!

 

[07navi]

Hi, I am looking for any info I can on adding aftermarket front/rear diff and a trans breathers. I have a Gen 4 but figure they would be very similar to the Gen 3s as far as style and locations.

Thank you!

Why would you want one?

 

[LokiWolf]

He wants to decrease the likely hood of water getting in when in high water/mud and off roading. What breathers are meant for.


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[Expedition Dave]

Why would you want one?

Well, I actually want all three. I am in an area with heavy flooding, and while I don't plan on it, I don't want to limit the life of my drivetrain due to water ingestion.

As you may know, when you submerge these items a wise man gets all fluids changed quickly thereafter. By raising the breather elements to a higher, drier location, you eliminate the need for these fluid changes. I have had them before with great success, and is usually not that cost prohibitive but it pays to research prior. Most 4 wheel drive shops can fab them up, but I figured I would check here first.

It is the same thing as a snorkel, which while it is generally used for less dust ingestion, works well to avoid hydrolock as well.

YMMV.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Short answer is NO.

But driveline breathers are really nothing more than a rubber hose with some kind of filter on the end. It’s not exactly rocket surgery.

ARB makes a nice one that you mount to the firewall and then you run the hoses to the axles/transmission/tcase.

Finding one that says “fits Expedition” will be a unicorn. Not because it won’t fit, but because 99.99% of Expedition owners aren’t interested or even aware of such a product.

 

[07navi]

Well, I actually want all three. I am in an area with heavy flooding, and while I don't plan on it, I don't want to limit the life of my drivetrain due to water ingestion.

As you may know, when you submerge these items a wise man gets all fluids changed quickly thereafter. By raising the breather elements to a higher, drier location, you eliminate the need for these fluid changes. I have had them before with great success, and is usually not that cost prohibitive but it pays to research prior. Most 4 wheel drive shops can fab them up, but I figured I would check here first.

It is the same thing as a snorkel, which while it is generally used for less dust ingestion, works well to avoid hydrolock as well.

YMMV.

Gotcha but what is YMMV ?

 

[LokiWolf]

Gotcha but what is YMMV ?

Your Mileage May Vary... basically to each his own.


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[Expedition Dave]

Thx Lok, and yes ExplorerTom, and while this forum is a good source, I feel there are only perhaps a portion with the "street knowledge" to answer some of the more technical questions. IT iwll probably drive me off to the F150 Forums where they tend to have more modding and 4-wheelk experience. FWIW, back in 1997 I was 4-wheeling a brand new Expedition in the badlands of California/Mexican Border for fun, making all the white & green lifted Broncos nervous!! They all thought I was their boss's boss!!

 

[Trainmaster]

Not sure of the 4th Gen trucks, but as ExplorerTom writes, the others just have a hose tie-wrapped up pretty high with a vented plastic cap on it. As I recall those vents are maybe +36" high.

Just extend the hoses and put them higher, unless you are into all that billet-anodized-colored-aluminum scene, in which I'm sure someone will take your money for something cool looking that you can screw to the firewall. Maybe with LEDs. Blinking.

 

[Expedition Dave]

Getting ready to have a local mechanic do this and was wondering if anyone had additional experience as far as how to do the job correctly?

I *believe* the front diff breather is already located in the engine well, so only the 1) transfer case 2) transmission and 3) rear diff are the ones to be addressed, correct?

 

[07navi]

Yea go to another forum, we know nothing.

 

[Trainmaster]

It would be very difficult to do it incorrectly. I'd be more concerned about getting water in the bulkhead connector, hubs and all the other stuff that's down low and not designed for submersion.

 

[00XTL]

So what you want to do is pretty much find a rubber hose that will fit over the breather nipple. You want it long enough to mount it as high as you want. I’m not sure about the stock ones on your generation but on the first gens i think they go into the frame rails.

You do not want to put breather caps on the end because as you drive the components will heat up and once you hit water they will cool rapidly and the pressure difference will suck that cap close, however the components will still need to breath and they will start sucking air through other seals such as axle seals. Thoughts seals are meant to keep fluid in not out.

 

[ChrisRCNY]

The biggest plus of relocating the breather is that it won't **** in water when the sudden cooling of a hot case drops the internal pressure. Ideally, the breather would be pressurized to 1-3psi, to keep water out, and vented the rest of the time. Even with that, there's still the risk of wheel bearings getting contaminated.

When I spent a lot of my free time fixing m35a2's and an m109a3, the best part about adding the fording kit and plumbing all the breathers into a manifold was getting rid of the breathers, .mil ones liked to fail if you didn't do regular checks, and overpressurize an axle until a weak seal blew.