[Benz]

I am what you would call a 4wd noob...

Mostly because I am only 18 only just got my first 4wd and because I don’t live around a family that mods there 4wd's.

I’m slowly learning more but could some one tell me how inportant it is to fit diff breathers higher up on the car. After just looking at my own Jimny I can see how easy it would be for water to travel into the diff and start costing me $$$. and now I’m kinda scared and I’m considering checking the diff oil.

Fitting the hoses is and will be easy to do myself. Just how inportant are they and should it be a priority? And does the gearbox and T/case also have breathers which may need mounting higher?

Thanx Heaps
Ben

[lump_a_charcoal]

Imagine driving along a track for a few hours, your diff gets nice and warm.
You then do a creek crossing, where your diff cools rapidly - If your breather isn't working well, it will suck water into the diff.
Fitting longer breathers is a pretty easy job, but having never seen a jimny breather I can't say what the best way is.
If it is the same as a sierra breather, then you can get a tap and cut a thread into the housing, and then install a fitting onto which hose is attached.
Someone else will be along shortly with the proper thread size and type...

[royce]

you only need them if you plan on crossing water, if not then dont worry

I think they are the same as sierras in that you can bung some 12mm hose over the top and away you go

my vitara has factory ones

[morpheus]

i think its worth fitting diff breathers for those "just in case" moments. you may fit them and never use them. but u might not install them, and the 1 time you do a simple water crossing, get stuck, & fill the diff with water, you'll be wishing you spent the time to do it, because now the repair bill is gonna cost WAY more than some hose, hose clamps & 2 fuel filters..

[BlueSuzy]

while ur at it, you may as well do the gearbox and transfer breathers!

They can be a pain.

But also if your considering of water / mud over your doorsills..

[Mike]

one of my zooks did a fair bit of water driving with the previous owner (there is a water mark half way up the airfilter) and it has standard breathers i took the diffs apart and they were fine, in really good nick actually with no water in them but the transfer was half full of water

[Benz]

so the gearbox and transfer has got breathers then?

[BlueSuzy]

yes

Anything gearbox mechanical like will have a breather

[Benz]

Thought so. Yeah might be a good idea to do them too =] a few more expensive parts in them rather then just a diff

Hmm I think I will put breathers in just not right now. I don’t really plan on going into water. But I do plan to travel a fair bit and keep the car for as long I can (or the size of the little thing permits!) and yeah would just be good if I didn’t have to worry about it =]

So yeah can anyone please tell me what they have done to their Jimny when they installed breathers?

Thanks a bucket load

Ben

[hobzees4wdshop]

Hey ben, look on the top of your diff. there should be a loose knob type thing there... Rip the cap off...you will be left with a protrusion that you can slide some airline/oil stable hose over the top. zip tie or hose clamp it then run it into your engine bay up high somewhere and bang a filter on it.

too easy. We sell a diff breather kit actually. comes with filters and 10m of airline. plenty to do front and rear diffs and probably the tranny and gear box as well.

What you could do is join the rear diff and tranny lines with a t-piece fitting, then a little further along join the gearbox breather into the same line with another t-piece. This way you would only have two filters/lines running into the engine bay.

Here's a link to our diff breather kit. http://4h.com.au/prod172.htm

cheers Dan.

[JrZook]

Here's one for ya's. Why not use a balloon or some type of small air tight bladder straight on to the breathers?

[royce]

probably build up too much pressure against the seals, then when its colder than when you fitted the ballons there will be a vacuum,

maybe something like a plastic bag ziptied to it could work as a one off thing

[g60toy]

I used to own a jimny its easy to fit the breathers
to the diff just pop off the dust cap on the top of the diff and i bought a breather kit from 4wd warehouse with threaded brass fittings then ran the hoses into the top of the engine bay into a small coke bottle which had a tiny hole in the top for ventaltion
I know bugger all on how to mod a car or fix it but this was simple cheap and easy to do
your jimny will last a long time the only thing that killed mine was slamming into a tree while 4x4
but as long as you fix your breathers amnd look after it they go forever

[shep]

be careful how you run the breather line, i have just had a pinion seal blowout because of a kink in the line.