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Technical Ducato 2.8JTD 2005 Gearbox Oil Breather

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Technical Ducato 2.8JTD 2005 Gearbox Oil Breather

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normanb

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Whilst carrying out the annual MOT, the garage mechanic pointed out oil on the outside of the gearbox casing an said in passing that it would probably be the gearbox oil breather pipe blocked, forcing gearbox oil around the oil seals to relieve the pressure. Is this likely with Ducatos?


I though I would look at it myself but where is the breather and how on earth can it become blocked? Does anyone have a diagram please?
 
The breather is a black plastic cap on the top of the gearbox not easy to get to.
This transmission has no filler plug or method to check the level.
The procedure is drain and add two liters or 75w80 synthetic via guess what .. the breather.

If you have your van serviced recently they may have spilled some.
 
Many thanks for your response. It leaves me wondering about breathers. If there is a plastic plug over the breather hole, it would seem that this is by design and therefore I shouldn't be looking at a blocked breather as the cause of oil on the outer lower gearbox casing?

Or is it more likely that there is a small hole within the plastic breather plug that has become blocked?

The van (at 29000 miles) hasn't had a service involving the gearbox oil yet so I should be able to discount an overfill.

The oil signs are relatively new - in the last thousand miles or so - so how urgent might the condition be? (I'm about to set off on the usual winter trip to Spain/Morocco - 4500 miles round trip.)

Lastly, if anyone has done this before, is the way to get at the breather from above, down through the bonnet, or from below, up the back of the engine?
 
paddyponchero said:
The breather is a black plastic cap on the top of the gearbox not easy to get to.
This transmission has no filler plug or method to check the level.
The procedure is drain and add two liters or 75w80 synthetic via guess what .. the breather.

If you have your van serviced recently they may have spilled some.
Click to expand...

The location of the "phantom Breather" is a complete mystery to me & it seems everyone else on the forum. As the reversing switch is located nearly under the engine mount bracket the (one of the other two places to fill the box through) & also difficult to find could paddyponchero please attempt to give the rest of us the exact or even general location of the gearbox breather & maybe even a photo of it if possible.
Thanks
 
i recently changed my gearbox, and in th eprocess became familier with the location of the breather. it is located on the top of the box centralized on a flat panel, u will find the reverse senser nearby aswell. i managed to fill up my gearbox oil by removing the air filter housing, you shold be able to get a small flat head screw driver in to pop of the breather cap. i then got a small funnel placing it in the breather not a great fit but it did squeeze in. with a length or tubing and another funnel in the tube i poured the oil in very slowly. also have been advised you can fill the gearbox through the reverse sensor but its further back and harder to reach. there are plenty of hoses in the way so its by no means an easy task. pre measure ur oil and check the required amount that u need to fill.
good luck
 
capnlegs said:
i recently changed my gearbox, and in th eprocess became familier with the location of the breather. it is located on the top of the box centralized on a flat panel, u will find the reverse senser nearby aswell. i managed to fill up my gearbox oil by removing the air filter housing, you shold be able to get a small flat head screw driver in to pop of the breather cap. i then got a small funnel placing it in the breather not a great fit but it did squeeze in. with a length or tubing and another funnel in the tube i poured the oil in very slowly. also have been advised you can fill the gearbox through the reverse sensor but its further back and harder to reach. there are plenty of hoses in the way so its by no means an easy task. pre measure ur oil and check the required amount that u need to fill.
good luck
Click to expand...
Hi Ive Actually Modified My Gearbox To Make It Easier To Fill My 2.8JTD.Firstly I Emptied The Gearbox.There Was Only Just Over 2lt In It Should Be 2.7lt.This engines Only Done 12000kl.No Leakage To Be Seen Anywhere.The Reason For Doing This Is Thanks To The FIAT FORUM. There Seems To Be A Problem With The Fiat Gearboxes.Couldnt See Any Easyway To Refill.Still Cant Find That Breather So I Took Off The 5gear housing ,That was quite Easy,Cleaned Off The Excess Black Silicone .And Drilled A 1/2 Hole At The Top Right Hand Side Of THe Housing And fitted a Metal Male Hose Fitting.After Refitting Housing Back Onto The Gearbox.Ive Fitted Approx 1/2 metre 1/2inch Hose And Taken It Up Next To The Radiator Overflow Container.Ican Now Fill It Quite Easily From The Top.By The Way I Refilled It With 2.7ltsI I Also Put A Few Magnet Around the Housing . Used An Additive Called NULON .Iam A Big Fan Of This Product And Have Used It On All My Vehicles.
I
 
miann said:
Hi Ive Actually Modified My Gearbox To Make It Easier To Fill My 2.8JTD.Firstly I Emptied The Gearbox.There Was Only Just Over 2lt In It Should Be 2.7lt.This engines Only Done 12000kl.No Leakage To Be Seen Anywhere.The Reason For Doing This Is Thanks To The FIAT FORUM. There Seems To Be A Problem With The Fiat Gearboxes.Couldnt See Any Easyway To Refill.Still Cant Find That Breather So I Took Off The 5gear housing ,That was quite Easy,Cleaned Off The Excess Black Silicone .And Drilled A 1/2 Hole At The Top Right Hand Side Of THe Housing And fitted a Metal Male Hose Fitting.After Refitting Housing Back Onto The Gearbox.Ive Fitted Approx 1/2 metre 1/2inch Hose And Taken It Up Next To The Radiator Overflow Container.Ican Now Fill It Quite Easily From The Top.By The Way I Refilled It With 2.7ltsI I Also Put A Few Magnet Around the Housing . Used An Additive Called NULON .Iam A Big Fan Of This Product And Have Used It On All My Vehicles.
I
Click to expand...

Hi
That is certainly is a elaborate way of changing the gearbox oil - exactly what brand & viscosity oil did you use for the replacement oil. You can (with difficulty) see the reversing light switch under the engine mount bracket if you remove the Air Cleaner housing & the intake pipes. Which from what has been said above should also enable you to locate the mystery breather as it is supposedly near by on the top of the Gearbox.
From what you said it was fear of the dreaded fifth gear failure that prompted the oil change @ 12,000kls, what is the build date & model year of your Ducato. I think it may be time to change the gearbox oil in ours & I have also done the trick with the magnets as well. Whereabouts in Downunder are you located.
Cheers
 
Hi Guys i have a ducato 1.9td 2000 model and ive recently had a gearbox oil leak is there a half way fill level on these gearboxes to check the level please,

many thanks Barrington B,
 
I have a 2005 2.0 JTD which is also filled from the mysterious breather but my problem is which oil to use. The handbook says Tutela Matryx and a spec of API GL 5. The problem is Tutela Matryx is API GL4. So which is it. I have looked on The Castrol website and this recommends Castrol Universal plus which has an API GL4 Spec. Anybody any ideas.
 
I have a 2005 2.0 JTD which is also filled from the mysterious breather but my problem is which oil to use. The handbook says Tutela Matryx and a spec of API GL 5. The problem is Tutela Matryx is API GL4. So which is it. I have looked on The Castrol website and this recommends Castrol Universal plus which has an API GL4 Spec. Anybody any ideas.
 
I have recently changed my gearbox oil and while inspecting the various brands noticed that Carlube 75W80 has the specification API GL4/GL5 so bought this!

I have attached a picture of the breather through which I topped up (the black casting is the gearbox mounting bracket so will aid location) however the airfilter housing needs to be removed first.

PS My van is a 2006 2.8JTD so picture will apply to this model only.
 

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toffee126ff said:
I have a 2005 2.0 JTD which is also filled from the mysterious breather but my problem is which oil to use. The handbook says Tutela Matryx and a spec of API GL 5. The problem is Tutela Matryx is API GL4. So which is it. I have looked on The Castrol website and this recommends Castrol Universal plus which has an API GL4 Spec. Anybody any ideas.
Click to expand...

Thats odd the service manual says zc synth 75 I'd definitely put in gl5 fully synthetic.

With regard to the fill definitely 2.7 to ensure adequate lubrication of the 5th gear.
 
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