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Fitting raised breathers on a Defender


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Vehicle shown is a TD5 90, but the method is the same for any L/R that has push fit axle breathers. Others that have a ball valve on the axle use the same method, but require a threaded adaptor.

Rear axle first - the breather connection will be covered in mud or general road dirt, so clean around it first.

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Press the red ring downwards, and at the same time - pull the pipe out of the fitting.

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On the rear axle the breather is just clipped in three places and ends up on a floor support.

Remove the pipe from the clips without damaging them if you can, but cable (zip) ties are a perfect substitute.

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Wading kits usually come with one or two reels of pipe. The ends will most likely be flattened, so tidy them up with a stanley blade or similar sharp tool.

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Press the end of the pipe into the axle fitting - it should go in about 10mm. Feed the pipe up onto the drivers side A-frame arm and secure it in a couple of places - making sure the pipe doesn't rub against either the ball joint or the arm where it connects to the chassis bracket as shown.

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I opted to take the pipe along the top of the chassis rail and secured it to the fuel pipes - close to the pipe mounting points. 2 or 3 ties to keep it in place, then up through the engine bay - secured where necessary to any handy anchor point.

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If you don't have a snorkel, then the pipe can be terminated inside the engine bay, but if you have, then the pipe comes out of the corner of the bonnet (make sure it's not going to get pinched when the bonnet is down), then up the snorkel - ending-up a few inches short of the top in order to prevent it from sucking oil out of the diff/gear/trans box.

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Front axle now, which takes a more complicated route. Just unclip the pipe in the same way and follow the route into the engine bay. The original pipe ends in a curve and is in a clip at the back of the engine. You need to keep the new pipe on the bulkhead until it can be joined to the rear pipe in a convenient place.

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Where the rear pipe and the front meet, cut and add a T-piece.

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You can run new pipes directly from the gear/transfer box, but a connection can be made in a similar fashion with a T-piece and single pipe that also goes up the snorkel. Connection is at the rear of the engine (cut the U-bends off), with the two remaining pipes and going straight to the bulkhead, where it can follow the same route as the axle pipe.

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Even if you have a 130 - you'll have plenty of pipe left over, so a different route is quite possible.

Les.

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