Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Tired of the dirty breather hose? I was!

[CumminsPower98]

I finally got tired of the pill bottle on my breather hose. I didn't have the drips where I parked but still had some misting that caused an oily mess on the transmission, t-case, skid plate, front driveline and all that stuff under there. It was also a real mess to empty and would fill with water when driving in hard rain or when washing under there and then it would overflow spill oil out all over. I had the top drilled holes covered but the water would still get in around the hose and the hole in the bottle lid.

I built a better setup that works really well and have tested this system for over 9k miles at the time of this writing and it works great with no mist getting out and causing a mess. The first tank is a holding tank. The second tank is packed with course steel wool to help condense the oil vapor, which then runs back into the holding tank. I could have incorporated the steel wool into the holding tank but didn't start out with that in mind.

There is more detailed info on this on my mods page liked below.

#ad

 

[Bobcat698]

Nice setup!

 

[Howard Durand]

Beautiful!

That looks a lot better than the pill bottle.

How do you keep the underside of the truck that clean?

 

[CumminsPower98]

Thanks, as far as keeping the truck clean I don't really do anything special. I am a bit of a perfectionist though so a clean leak free truck is a must within reason. I have replaced a few seals here and there over the years so even at 264k miles things are almost spotless throughout. I hate leaks and messes so that's what drove me to make this device.

Beautiful!
That looks a lot better than the pill bottle.
How do you keep the underside of the truck that clean?

 

[Signal73]

Ive seen pill bottles on 24V's, did 12V's come with them? If so mines along side the highway somewheres

 

[CStansbury]

I too wish my frame looked like that. Mine is a rusty, scaly mess since it was a salt-country truck before I rescued it.



Excellent fab work on the breather assembly!

 

[CumminsPower98]

The 12 valves didn't come with a bottle. The tube just hangs there behind the starter and plasters everything with oil. I didn't have much of a problem just driving around home for the first 4 years I had the truck but as soon as I hit the roads and drove at higher speeds all day ever day things started getting dirty even with the pill bottle.

 

[DJWyckoff]

tricky I like it I will have to build one when I return to WV. are there any tubes inside that we can't see? nice mod god bless.

 

[CumminsPower98]

There is nothing inside. The nipples are just welded on flush with the outside except for the drain is a 1/2" to 3/8" bushing that I cut mostly off (so it would be flush inside) and welded inside the hole.

I will go ahead and give the details here for anyone that might be interested.

This can be done any number of ways and I ended up just using scrap out of the scrap metal bin at the shop. The main body is a piece of 2"x4" steel tube about 8" long with 2"x2" angle iron welded on the ends. I set the angle iron back an 1/8" so it would hold the tank body out away from the frame (less chance of holding water and rusting). The hose nipples on the ends are 1/2" ID pipe, which has an OD of a little over 3/4" making a nice snug fit for the hose. I cut these on a slight angle to line up with the hoses. On the bottom I welded a 1/2" nipple to thread the drain valve onto. The drain valve is a standard 3/8" ball valve. I put a big valve on there so it would drain fast and easy even when cold. Small self tapping screws hold the unit to the frame. The filter mount is a piece of 2"x3" angle with a piece of 1" ID x 1-3/4" OD pipe welded on top to mount the filter to, which is K&N p/n 62-1512. The hose nipple on the bottom is just more 1/2" pipe cut on angles and welded together.

As you can see in the picture I had to bend that little bit of floor brace that hangs down in order to get the filter high enough so the hose would slop back to the tank.

 

[Howard Durand]

I'm going to try a chunk of pvc electrical conduit with caps on each end. I don't have a welder so the pvc would be easier for me to work with.

I found your filter on K&N's web site and already have it ordered.



This is one of the neatest ideas I have seen for a long time. Early on, I tried the bottle bit but it blew off right away. I lost interest and didn't pursue it any further. I have looked at the mess now and then and thought something should be done but let it go.



I hope this gets into the TDR.



I checked out your picture gallery. You have done some pretty impressive work.

I appreciate neat and you seem to have a knack for it.

 

[biggy238]

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SUM-G1504&N=115&autoview=sku





Check these out... . I've had one on my bronco for a while. .





Description:





Breather Tank, 1 qt. , -6 AN Inlet, Includes Reusable Clamp-On Breather, Black, Each



Keep overflow off the track.

Our Summit 1 qt. plastic breather tanks are just what you need to keep overflow from your power steering or dry sump oiling system off the track. Each tank includes a reusable clamp-on breather, -6 AN inlet fitting, drain valve, plug, and mounting hardware.

 

[CumminsPower98]

Here is a search on Jegs, which is where I saw them first. There may be some on there that would work fine. I know some that I looked at were kind of tall so they would hang down too much but it looks like they may have some smaller ones too. I just built mine mainly because it was a lot cheaper and I enjoy making things anyway.

Howard Durand, the PVC sounds like a good idea.

 

[CumminsPower98]

I thought I would post an update. Today I started over and made a new breather tank system. I was not careful enough on my previous version, which ended up too high. I remote mounted the filter this time in the same location it was before only without the tank. When I built the first version I figured the tank may be too high but was too think headed to think of a better way/location. Sure enough over the past 9k miles the oil was begining to pool in the hose and not fully drain into the tank. The filter did a great job, however and never let any mist out so everything stayed clean.

 

[CMorrow]

I used a 3 or 4" PVC T and glued on the end caps. The end caps have female threads in the center. I just added the barbed fittings and attached the T to the frame with large flex cuffs. I aimed the lower portion of the T down and installed a garden hose fitting with a brass cap. The cap has a rubber grommet and has not leaked any oil. I even extended the breather hose from the rear of the T and took it out to the rear axle along the frame.

I empty it about every 2-3 months. Usually get about 2 cups of oil.

Hope this helps.