Hey guys, i went out this past Monday and did lower and upper woodpecker. When I was on lower at one point the jeep was pointing up at a pretty steep angle, perfect camera phone photo shot and when i jumped out i saw a whole lot of tranny fluid coming out underneath the rear driver side quarter panel. I wasn’t to worried since i figured that is probably where the breather for the tranny was but i don’t know that for sure. What was weird is that i know ive had the jeep like that before and never had that happen. It hasn't been leaking or anything since then and there don't seem to be any problems with the jeep so i'm sure it's fine, just wanted to get your guys thoughts on it and see if it has happened to anyone else. Thanks

To see if I read this right, "you saw tranny fluid out of the back quarter panel"? That isn't physically possible unless u have a cracked bottle of tranmy fluid in your back quarter panel. There isn't anyway for fluid to get from your tranny or cooler lines to that area, only other way is if your tranny cool was mounted there, but it would cool at all if it was

Is there a breather hose for the tranny? If so where is it located. If it was located at the rear of the vehicle above the gas tank than to me it would make sense for it to be leaking from that area when i was at the angle with the jeep. I will try to take some pics to show where the leak was coming from. Thanks

jstaffeldt wrote:Is there a breather hose for the tranny? If so where is it located.

There is. But at least on the ones I've worked on, it's routed into the engine compartment

So here is what we got going on. It was pouring out from underneath the rear quarter panel, underneath the tail light. I'm gonna go out and see if i can figure out where it was coming from tonight. Tranny is a manual so there shouldn't be a cooler correct?

Ok, so there are two breather hoses that go back to that area above the gas tank. One looks to be the intake for my air compressors for the lockers (rubi) the second is a breather for the rear axle. Since some gear oil is reddish pink i thought i should check the level. Sure enough the diff was low, so i think i tracked down the culprit.

My next question though is why did it happen? When i noticed it the fluid was pouring out like was under pressure or there was some siphon action going on. Does the rear locker add pressure inside of the diff. when it is engaged? Is it possible that because of the angle i was at and because of the pressure from the locker being engaged that it caused it to come out of the breather. What do you guys think?

Its not a big deal now that i figured out where it came from but i haven't experienced that before so I'm interested to know why it happened this time. I know Ive had the jeep at that angle and locked up before... very interesting!

The Yellowsub had this problem recently. More than likely your Rubicon locker bladder has a hole in it or is failing in some way similar and your compressor is filling up your diff instead, shooting the fluid out the breather.

We had a problem with our ARB system leaking into the front diff. One of the seals in the diff had gone bad and was leaking into the diff creating pressure in the diff and pushing air out the breather. I'm not sure how the Rubi lockers work, although it seems like it would be a similar setup. My first clue that something wasn't right, was how often my compressor was coming on when I was locked. Upon further investigation, I could smell the diff fluid and heard air coming out the breather tube. None of this had to do with being at a bad angle though and it didn't push much, if any, fluid out the tube... it was more air that smelled like diff fluid. If the Rubi lockers work the same as the ARB lockers and there's a leak in the system, you'd hear air coming out of the breather any time the locker is engaged regardless of the angle of your vehicle.

Cool, thanks for the advice. I'll have to take a listen to the breather to see if i hear air coming out. You guys think my locker should be covered under the 75000 power train warranty? :)

Silversides wrote:We had a problem with our ARB system leaking into the front diff. One of the seals in the diff had gone bad and was leaking into the diff creating pressure in the diff and pushing air out the breather. I'm not sure how the Rubi lockers work, although it seems like it would be a similar setup. My first clue that something wasn't right, was how often my compressor was coming on when I was locked. Upon further investigation, I could smell the diff fluid and heard air coming out the breather tube. None of this had to do with being at a bad angle though and it didn't push much, if any, fluid out the tube... it was more air that smelled like diff fluid. If the Rubi lockers work the same as the ARB lockers and there's a leak in the system, you'd hear air coming out of the breather any time the locker is engaged regardless of the angle of your vehicle.

Oh, hey dude awesome job on axle alley. First time i saw that first waterfall i made a vow to someday make it up that. Very jealous, you rock dude!

jstaffeldt wrote:Oh, hey dude awesome job on axle alley. First time i saw that first waterfall i made a vow to someday make it up that. Very jealous, you rock dude!

I can't say I did the gate keeper....my stock wheelbase ass was pretty much dragged up that thing. I was able to do the rest of the trail though and I think it is my new favorite trail. Can't wait to go back (4/17). If I ever get stretched, a winch, full cage, and 44 front axel I would love to try getting up that beast....it might be a while