Thread: Leak from axle

I gave jc109 a hand to fix this yesterday.
When we undid the offending drive flange nut, oil bubbles came out from between the drive flange and axle spline.
Obviously a breather problem.
Turns out the rear diff breather hose has been pinched between the body and a chassis bracket.
Must have been like this since day 1.
We topped up the diff oil and put a temporary breather in.
The pinched section will need to be cut out and bypassed.


Mystery solved.

Originally Posted by jboot51

I gave jc109 a hand to fix this yesterday.
When we undid the offending drive flange nut, oil bubbles came out from between the drive flange and axle spline.
Obviously a breather problem.
Turns out the rear diff breather hose has been pinched between the body and a chassis bracket.
Must have been like this since day 1.
We topped up the diff oil and put a temporary breather in.
The pinched section will need to be cut out and bypassed.


Mystery solved.

Good find.
A good time to re-grease them splines too

Regards
Daz

G'day guys,

Tony, once again, a very heartfelt thank you for your generous offer of your time and expertise. As I said, any time I can repay the favour please say the word.

I've attached a photo of the offending pinch courtesy of Solihull. I'm annoyed at myself for not having picked up on this sooner. It was well spotted by Tony after much scratching of heads.

Daz, yes, this is one of yours. Thanks for dropping in here. Looks like the issue's now sorted, and after some guidance from Tony I have a much better idea of what I'm looking at around this area of my car. I recall you saying that you machine those caps in order for the wheels to fit back on properly. Is that right? If so, is it all four caps that get machined? One of them seemed a fraction short so we used a touch more sealant on the mating surface, but I'm wondering if it might be worth getting replacements at some point down the track if I change the wheels to something like the wolf rims I used to run. And what grease do you recommend I use on those splines?

Gromit, any idea where I could find a good source of pneumatic fittings? I might turn to evil bay for the 6mm joiners to bridge that pinch, but I'm not sure what I'll need for the axle. That fitting on my Puma appears to be a plastic push-fit only, as opposed to a threaded fitting. Can anyone else confirm what this is so I can find a replacement?

Cheers all.

James

*Only the rear caps got machined.
*My dad and I had played around with a few different ideas with regards to the centre cap and a couple we had done with a o-ring, I have the feeling yours was one of them, mid last year, I dropped the idea sighting it was a dick of an idea.

PM me your address, I will post out two new caps, with a return bag for you to send the old ones, when you fit the new caps remove the o-rings if it has them.

oh and as for that damned pinched breather, certainly looks like a factory balls up..... and sheesh how was that missed by everyone.... yes... including me.

Umm doesnt nugget stuff do a sweet booty kit for all the breathers? he/she is on here?

Regards
Daz

Originally Posted by jc109

Gromit, any idea where I could find a good source of pneumatic fittings? I might turn to evil bay for the 6mm joiners to bridge that pinch, but I'm not sure what I'll need for the axle. That fitting on my Puma appears to be a plastic push-fit only, as opposed to a threaded fitting. Can anyone else confirm what this is so I can find a replacement?



Cheers all.



James

You shouldn't need to touch the diff end.....just buy two joiners and a small length of tube to by pass the pinched piece.

Cheers Daz. PM inbound.

Nugget's breather kit already installed. All looked well at either end of the lines. I never thought to look any closer...

Weeds, that axle fitting query is related to another issue. When checking the front diff breather we noticed that the line was full of oil (probably from being over filled at some point. Dunno) and after blowing it clear I found that when refitting the line there was no positive engagement. That is, it simply slips in and out with little resistance. So, I figure I'll replace at least one of those fittings while I'm at it.

Originally Posted by jc109

Cheers Daz. PM inbound.



Nugget's breather kit already installed. All looked well at either end of the lines. I never thought to look any closer...



Weeds, that axle fitting query is related to another issue. When checking the front diff breather we noticed that the line was full of oil (probably from being over filled at some point. Dunno) and after blowing it clear I found that when refitting the line there was no positive engagement. That is, it simply slips in and out with little resistance. So, I figure I'll replace at least one of those fittings while I'm at it.

Okeydoke......remove the fitting when you arrive at the shop and walk in with it.

Any hydraulic place or and irrigation place or a pneumatic/air compressor place should have a selection.

Originally Posted by weeds

Okeydoke......remove the fitting when you arrive at the shop and walk in with it.

Any hydraulic place or and irrigation place or a pneumatic/air compressor place should have a selection.

This is on a 2011 puma.
The factory breather is a push in airline fitting.
The problem is that the fitting is flush mount with the axle housing and does not have any hex for a spanner to fit for removal.
I imagine that you would have to catch the edge and knock it out with a screw driver.


Any ideas if this is correct.
I imagine a new flush mount fitting would be harder to find.


Cheers,
Tony