Breather tube for ZF

The breather tube is just a flexible rubber plastic see-through tube. There should be a small metal nipple in the z-f and then the tube attaches to that nipple, My car was all original and the tube was strapped the the crossmember with a tie-strap. That's it/

Most of the venders offer a polished stainless steel tube for this.It is rather expensive but looks great.I personally tapped the case and installed an 4AN fitting then ran a 4AN braided line for a vent this looks very good also.

The stock breather was simply a small steel tube with a collar to prevent it from falling into the ZF, and a plastic hose pushed on. I have never heard of anyone getting gear lube out of this hose, only hat air as the unit heats up in use, so there is virtually no pressure on the breather. Tapping the case for a bullet-proof fitting can certainly be done, if you are skilled enough to do this without getting any aluminum chips down in the trans to screw up your gear shifting. One chip in a synchro unit can keep that gear from being selected until the trans is disa$$embled and cleaned....

Well, on mine there is no tube and no metal
thing stuck in this hole. All I see is this
small little hole in the transaxle case. Is this liable to cause leakage of oil? What should I do? Thanks. I am planning a somewhat longer trip soon and don't want something like this to cause problems.

quote:

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Originally posted by tradde:
Well, on mine there is no tube and no metal
thing stuck in this hole. All I see is this
small little hole in the transaxle case. Is this liable to cause leakage of oil? What should I do? Thanks. I am planning a somewhat longer trip soon and don't want something like this to cause problems.

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Seeing only the little hole on the top means only that somewhere in the past you have lost the simple insert. Do you want to leave it like that now? Nope...as Jack pointed out getting a small little something into the case accidently can cause you big problems down the road .
Solution simply fabricate a simple grommet to hold what ever little tube you can find. The premise is to keep crap from falling in yet allow hot oil vapor to vent easily. Having a tube inserted held in place with a rubber grommet with a flexible tube or hose attached to vent away will prevent dirt and such from getting inside your case.

Good luck... The pantera vendors all have a neat looking little tube but you pay for it looking good. In the meantime the above (like how the factory itself did it) will work just fine.

As for leakage.. Hard to say that the hole would be the issue.. Follow the trail of oil is what I live by....Get a good degreaser and clean up all around the case so that it makes it easier to spot where your leak is actually occuring.

Dave

Tim, I found a picture of the $$$ S.S. vent tube in the Hall catalogue and fashioned one out of a $.79 piece of brake line. I used a small piece of tubing to connect it to the vent outlet, bent it and connected it to the back of the transaxle where the grounding strap attaches. Looks and works great and went out to dinner with the $80. Good Luck Bob R.

Thanks for the info and suggestions. I will
definetely take care of it. But now this
raises a new question. Since I don't know when this came off, can I ask if anyone thinks I might have gotten something in the tranny cause 2nd gear grinds when shifting
once it's warm. I can double clutch down with no problem but hate getting a grind when shifting up. I had just thought the 2nd synchro was going bad. Once the summer is over I plan to pull the tranny and ship it off for repair. I hate to leave myself P-car less for all summer. I am trying to take it easy so I can continue to drive it.
What are your thoughts on this? Is this a bad idea? Thanks.

Hi tradde,
In a road car the second gear synchronizer has the hardest job of all the synchros. Along with that, it also receives the most usage. Although my experience with the ZF transaxle is minimal, I can tell you what is typical. With few exceptions the second gear synchro. will be the first to show signs of wear. That being the case, the most likely cause of the problem you're experiencing is a worn second gear synchro. If the clutch is not fully disengaging, the synchros. must overcome the resulting drag. This would be asking too much of an already tired synchro. Just to be sure, confirm that the clutch is releasing properly.

One thing that wasn't mentioned about your transaxle vent was water. Venting of a gearbox is almost always accomplished by either one of those little vent assemblies, or a vent hose. The design of a vent assembly, and the routing of a vent hose are intended to prevent water from entering the unit by acting as an air lock. Leaving an open hole in the top of the unit could allow water from splash or deep puddles to get inside the transaxle.

Good luck...Al English

Al is correct on the absolute necessity of the max available clutch disengagement. To check, first have someone mat the clutch pedal while you stick a feeler gauge thru the hole in the bellhousing. If you can't get a 0.040" gauge in there, you have clutch drag. .040" total means only 0.020" on each side of the disc, which is ragged-edge OK. Could be from a beginning-to-fail clutch master or slave, wear in the mechanical linkage under the dash or the slave not properly adjusted. The ZF is not like domestic trannys; the synchro rings are mild steel, not bronze. This means they wear much longer. But when they finally do wear out, the mating gear cone will also be also irreparably worn, and a single ZF gear runs around $1200 not installed... Adjust those clutches and do not speed-shift. Or accumulate a BIG bucket of money to send off with the trans.