bad axle vent

[BILLDEUCE]

this may be a dumb question but if your axle vent was clogged and oil came out around the rear wheel does this deffintly mean your seal is bad ? it was deefintly the vent when i open the axle level oil plug i herd air come out

 

[doghead]

Just replace or clean the vent, and try it for for a while.

 

[BILLDEUCE]

this being said since i herd the air pressure come out of the axle plug and the axle oil looking kinda thick and a greenish color would you say ifs deffintly axle oil?

 

[aaron379]

this being said since i herd the air pressure come out of the axle plug and the axle oil looking kinda thick and a greenish color would you say ifs deffintly axle oil?

If its pressurized then the vent is defiantly clogged and gear oil is green, at least mine is... If you clean your vent it may never leak again

 

[KsM715]

Smell the oil, then dip your finger in the diff and compare. Gear oil usually has a distinct smell.

 

[aaron379]

Smell the oil, then dip your finger in the diff and compare. Gear oil usually has a distinct smell.

And its a Nasty Smell

 

[BILLDEUCE]

will do but if it leaked does this mean the seal is blown and needs to be replaced?
just want to make sure its this and nothing else it could be

 

[aaron379]

not necessarily clean your vent, get some degreaser and clean all gear oil off the wheels, tires, ect.... monitor the fluid level and visual leaks

 

[caliber1]

As has been said, you won't know till you clear the vent and drive it some. When the oil heats up, the pressure has to go somewhere, if the vent is plugged, the seals will be where the pressure vents.

 

[212sparky]

This is one reason i am working on installing a common vent rail for the axles, transmission and transfer case that will be ended in the cab with a filter on the end.

 

[kcollum]

I had the same problem with the rear axle drivers side. Took vent apart and cleaned it and put back, cleaned up the oil on the rim and lucked out no more leak. Recheck oil level hope you have the same luck with it.

 

[Vintage iron]

Hey 212sparky the vent rail sounds good, but you may want to vent it somewhere besides the cab. Nothing is worse than the smell of gear oil! Under the hood maybe a better spot.

 

[212sparky]

It is ending their right now but have plans to extend it out the back of the cab but am waiting on a few parts from work before it is done. Also, I cant smell to many things. I spent 4 years building water treatment plants and a side effect is you loose your sense of smell.

 

[Shawn MacAnanny]

As long as its jsut oil in the wheel and not grease. i wouldnt drive it too much if it had pushed the grease out of your bearings. i would pull the hub, repack and replace seals. seals are less than $30 for peace of mind and a couple hours labor, plus you're going to want to clean the brake parts anyway

 

[Heavysteven]

Lol, true I rehabing a sewage plant. Can't smell much....everything smells like dog food.

If it's a rear axle then you could have washed the grease out of the bearings and soaked the brake pads.

 

[Clay James]

I had the same problem with the rear axle drivers side. Took vent apart and cleaned it and put back, cleaned up the oil on the rim and lucked out no more leak. Recheck oil level hope you have the same luck with it.

You definitely need to repack your bearings now. On every leaking hub I've pulled apart(15 now), the grease had been washed off.

 

[Gunfreak25]

I find it interesting that the designers never thought about a chassis vent system. GMC M211's and M135's came factory with them. They used huge 1" steel tubing along the frame rails and it T's off in several places to smaller steel lines which go to things like the fuel tank, transfer case, master cylinder, air pack and air compressor. Rubber flex lines connect the transmission, engine and all 3 axles to the venting system. In fact, the flexible rubber lines for the axle vents are the same as the actual brake lines for ease of parts logistics in field.

The entire chassis vent system collects under the hood at the top of the firewall where it has a threaded fitting that is filled with horse hair to act as a filter. It sits directly in front of the 302's oil bath air cleaner intake hole so anything coming out of the chassis vent system is automatically pulled into the air intake. Eat that greenie weenies....

 

[70deuce]

Doing an "axle vent" search, here are some other SS posts on solutions. There are more.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/57936-axle-trans-tc-vents.html
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/42149-axle-vents-clean-replace-relocate-other-vents.html
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/76914-axle-vent-modification.html
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce-modification-hot-rodding/56704-axel-vent-mod-2-5-ton-rockwells.html
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/42149-axle-vents-clean-replace-relocate-other-vents.html