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2nd Gen axle vent mod write-up

251K views 397 replies 145 participants last post by  raine 
#1 ·
All,
After helping a friend replace his pinion and axle seals on his '05 Frontier I decided to modify the vent on my M226 axle this past weekend. The amount of work and cost to replace his seals is not something I want to have to do a lot.

See attached the write-up on how I modified this vent, I think it turned out quite well and when I drained the axle lube after installing the vent it drained incredibly fast compared to the old vent where it had to glug out due to air (think of pouring a 2 liter). This was enough for me to realize our old vent wasn't allowing air to come back into the axle, which is not a good situation and can cause excessive seal wear.
 

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#2 ·
Thank you for the write up. I don't think I have seen one done as a PDF yet. Any chance you could copy past it into the thread? Some here will NOT go to any link or download anything.

There was a thread discussing this exact thing a while back. As I browsed that thread, it sent one to many other threads. Any way, long story short, I may have stumbled upon the Nissan part number for the fitting you purchased from Toyota.

Nissan part # = 38323-C6010. I cannot confirm that this fits, however, it is a valid number from Nissan parts. It is also mentioned in all those other threads as something the toyota guys were buying to do the same thing to their axles.

For even more water clearance, I have seen them mounted up behind tail lights.
 
#3 ·
that's a very nice right up!
i dont think i've even seen install sheets that nice
:goodjob:
 
#8 · (Edited)
Thanks for all the comments, it seems everyone is on the same page overall. I felt routing to the tail light was a bit overkill as almost every truck I've been around and worked on had a axle vent hose routed to a high location near the axle with the end turned down.

Besides, if I ever get in water/mud deep enough to risk getting down this long hose run I am going to need to change the axle lube anyway because most likely I've gotten water past the seals into the gears. But I think either install is good.

I'm not sure if this write-up should be linked in the General Discussion board or not, if somebody wants to do it feel free. I think people need to do this mod if they want to save a lot of headaches and $$$.



I have to do a lot of instruction type write-ups in my job, so this was a piece of cake. Glad you like it, share with all Nissan guys needing some help!
 
#4 ·
WOW! very nice writeup.

i also wouldn't mind seeing one on pinion and axle seals...:)
 
#5 ·
Good writeup Brad. And thanks again for the help on the axle seals last weekend....it was a JOB!!

Sorry big river, we didn't think to take pictures while replacing the seals. I can say it's a harder job than the factory manual acts like it it (at least in my case). Either of us can answer any questions you have if you plan on replacing a pinion or axle seal...and I can show you a pic of the tool I had to make to get off the pinion seal nut:)
 
#6 ·
Nice Mod, did you get this from ClubTitan or TalkTitan or MightyTitans?

Also, I am not sure how this will do in a wet off-road situation. For someone in that situation I would highly recommend that they snake the hose around to the Passenger Taillight.

In the end thou, this is a lot better then the stock valve that always gets dirty and stuck.
 
#7 ·
Fantastic write up! Only a couple of things that I did different-

I reused the original vent fitting by prying off the metal cap on top and got the right size hose to fit that.

I mounted my filter behind my taillight and I used a valve cover filter to cap it off.

Auto part Automotive lighting
 
#10 ·
I'm kind of on the same page with Brad on venting to the taillight; it's fine if you want to do it but I don't see a need for 95% of us. But to those of you that have 4X4's did do that, did you re-route the vent from your front axle also? I'm not around my truck right now to go see what the stock vent is like, but I'm just curious if anyone's changed anything.
 
#12 ·
Sure did! When I switched to the Volant intake I found the little hose that ran to the front diff (btw that is all it is, a hose, no filter or cap) so I drilled a small hole in the CAI box, added a fitting and now it vents inside the CAI box (with another filter on it).

The only vent I have left to find is for the transmission/transfer case. IF (and this is a big if) I remember right the transfer case vent connects to the transmission vent and that goes on top of the transmission to the top of the bellhousing, but I am not 100% sure about that.
 
#13 ·
Thought I'd bump this since it's water/mud slingin' time again..

I recently did this mod. on my new(2800mi.) M226; as I removed the stock breather a PhhissstWhoosh sound came out/in, thinkin' it was built up vacuum.
Even if you're not planning to dunk your diff. this mod. is worth your time.
 
#340 ·
Thought I'd bump this since it's water/mud slingin' time again..

I recently did this mod. on my new(2800mi.) M226; as I removed the stock breather a PhhissstWhoosh sound came out/in, thinkin' it was built up vacuum.
Even if you're not planning to dunk your diff. this mod. is worth your time.
So this resurrection is a result of using the advanced search feature in an attempt to find an answer to this question...

Is the whoosh sound normal? Hadn’t driven it for about 18 hours. Thanks!
 
#16 ·
I'm almost certain that is why both of my axel seals (one ha sbeen replaced, going in for the other shortly) have had to be replaced... gonna do this over the weekend when i get the truck back i think.
 
#17 ·
^^^That is exactly why this mod is almost a must on the Titans. They blow seals like it is nothing.

Just an FYI, the same vent is used on both the c200k and the m226.

Also, don't just walk into autozone and look for the filters, make sure you bring in the PNs or else it will take forever to find the ones that fit.
 
#20 ·
The Nissan PN is susposed to be cancelled thus the toyota PN. I am not sure why it didn't work for you thou. I used it on my c200k with great results as well as many Titans on their m226.

Can you post the Toyota PN you used so I can compare it to mine?
 
#21 ·
Question about the fuel filter

Hey, my 06 is getting a whole new Diff, cuz of the leaking you described (under warranty). Just so I don't have to do it again (after warranty) I plan on doing what you suggest.

Question - What purpose does the little fuel filter have? (as the original system doesn't)
 
#23 · (Edited)
^I was thinkin' of make'n one of these..
_ $$$$ breather. :laugh:
 
#26 ·
great cheap mod. and very good write up
 
#27 ·
Mine has about 46K on it and when rotating the tires I noticed my pinion seal looked to be seeping oil. I imagine mine gets quite a bit of vacuum in the winter with the possible -50s and normal -30s and then getting parked in a +60s garage every night.. Looked at my owners manual and it says powertrain warranty is good for 60,000 miles so hopefully I'm covered as I'm the second owner too.


Breather mod here I come!! (of course after Nissan hopefully repairs it)
 
#28 ·
Quick question cause I simply don't know. What is the purpose/benefit of doing this?
 
#29 ·
the vent from the factory has a one way valve that is supposed to only let pressure out of the axle and not let anything in but this causes a negative pressure once the axle cools which is hard on seals and also the valve is known to rust or get caked with dirt and get stuck open allowing water and dirt to get into your axle. this mod gets rid of that and lets air pressure flow in and out at will so pressure is always equal (easy on seals) the reason you use a long hose and remote mount it is to keep it up high incase you submerge the diff in water or mud, keeping it up high keeps it away from all that and the filter just keeps bugs dirt and all that from getting in.
 
#30 · (Edited by Moderator)
Got it done

In case anyone is wondering the threads I found to work for the breather were 1/8" BSPT or British tapered pipe threads which I found at a hydraulic hose and fitting type store! First place I went to said the thread was a 0.9 pitch in metric but metric usually starts at a 1.0 and goes up in 0.5 increments if I remember correctly. Nice thing about what I got is that the only fitting they had was a 90 degree elbow with the BSPT on one side and a standard type thread that the guy found a 1/4 OD barb for. So my line comes out of the axle and lines up with the brake line and follows that up. I think it looks good so that's all that matters!! I terminated with a napa fuel filter. There is a piece of metal that I stuck the hose over instead of bothering with the tail light location. Oh and I looked at my seal after they wrenched it out but I couldn't see any cracks or dry rot or anything. I think going from a warm garage to FREEZING COLD with the one way valve caused the rear end to have a vacuum. Which I think made the seal squeeze down tighter on the pinion shaft and wear it out much faster. Don't go mudding or do any river/water crossings EVER so that couldn't have contributed to the failed seal. Hopefully this is the last time I see the pinion seal leaking. :noworries: Auto part Exhaust system Automotive exterior Suspension Pipe


Auto part Automotive exterior Bumper Vehicle Automotive fuel system
 
#274 ·
In case anyone is wondering the threads I found to work for the breather were 1/8" BSPT or British tapered pipe threads which I found at a hydraulic hose and fitting type store! First place I went to said the thread was a 0.9 pitch in metric but metric usually starts at a 1.0 and goes up in 0.5 increments if I remember correctly. Nice thing about what I got is that the only fitting they had was a 90 degree elbow with the BSPT on one side and a standard type thread that the guy found a 1/4 OD barb for. So my line comes out of the axle and lines up with the brake line and follows that up. I think it looks good so that's all that matters!! I terminated with a napa fuel filter. There is a piece of metal that I stuck the hose over instead of bothering with the tail light location. Oh and I looked at my seal after they wrenched it out but I couldn't see any cracks or dry rot or anything. I think going from a warm garage to FREEZING COLD with the one way valve caused the rear end to have a vacuum. Which I think made the seal squeeze down tighter on the pinion shaft and wear it out much faster. Don't go mudding or do any river/water crossings EVER so that couldn't have contributed to the failed seal. Hopefully this is the last time I see the pinion seal leaking. :noworries: View attachment 26404

View attachment 26405

Has anyone checked the threads on the plug they took out to see pitch and tpi? Did mine back in 2009 and haven't had any issues since and like I said I found my part in a hydraulic hose store. I didn't have my tap and die set back then and I'm pretty sure the useless oem vent was thrown out long ago as we've moved five times already to five different states in the past eight years, otherwise I'd check mine.
 
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