Clearing out engine and tranny breather tubes.

Came across this thread on the samba about how often these so called ‘breather tubes’ get clogged. Especially on Syncros.

Turns out there are three, one for the front diff, second for the tranny and third for the engine. Well after inspection, it seems I still have 2 out of the three breather tubes still attached.

Luckily I vaguely remmebered a tube with what seemed to be a broken fitting in a box from the PO. It was the missing breather tube! I checked it and it seemed clean. After I reattached it I went for the other two. The front diff was defineatley clogged. I used a bunch of carb cleaner, and blew as hard as I could … as soon as I get access to compressed air, I’ll do it again for good measure. As for the third tube, aw man, darn these fat hands of mine…the space was very tight and I didn’t want to go through the trouble of dropping the tranny.

4 hours and two beers later, with some luck, magnets, a wonky metal hanger jig, and scratches on my hand I finally fucking did it! Whew. What a dumb design… lol

Anyways they see these are important to keep clear because as drivetrain warms up the hot air needs to escape. If the hot air cannot escape through the vent tube, then it usually escapes through the seals pushing oil along with it. Hopefully that long day will help reduce some of the leaks I have been noticing lately after the trip to Dusty Descend!

Replaced engine breather tube with custom diy fitting.

Front differential breather tube. It goes all the way to the back of the van and exits somewhere above the gas tank.

Finally the dreaded tranny breather banjo tube fitting…this was such a pain to get to and reinstall…