Rear diff seal and breather

[Alistair E]

In the recent mot there was an advisory that i have a leak from the rear diff. It seems to be coming from the seal on the offside. I've read on here that if the breather is blocked it can pressurise the casing and cause a leak.

I've not been under the car yet to have a proper look, but can someone please tell me if the breather is easily accessable. Does anyone have any photos showing its location?

If its not blocked then I'm looking at replacing the seal. Does anyone have a part number for the seal? It's a 94 avant.

Thanks

Alistair

[simon20vq]

The 'breather' I think you will find is a black plastic cap that sits on top of the diff. (stand to be corrected?)
The diff seals are available from audi or they were sometime ago however the large one is much more expensive than the smaller so check what side you need and if poss just check to make sure the diff is not overfilled with oil cos that could cause it to leak.

[Monkeymagic]

the off side one is replaceable in situ and the seal is the same on a T4 van. I got mine from VW heritage.
the problem on mine was caused by a very small amount of play in the drive shaft cup.

[irishs2]

I was unable to get the large seal from Audi a few weeks ago, I hade to go to QuattroCorner

[rynaqui]

I was unable to get the large seal from Audi a few weeks ago, I hade to go to QuattroCorner

As above

[mcandmar]

Audi say they are NLA however i can post the conteco part numbers if anybody needs them, i bought mine from http://www.abbeyseals.ie/ or any seal specialist should be able to source them for you.

[Mikes2]

The offside seal is the small one and relatively easy to replace. Almost no oil will leak out when you remove this seal.

Both seals available here

http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/shaft-seal-differential/corteco-01020537b_g630_a14001020537B.html

Large one is also available via Audi Tradition, which is still offline

[UrS4boy]

The rear diff breather is shown as Items 2 and 3 in the diagram below. You can also *just* see it in the photo below:

[Alistair E]

That's great gents. Much appreciated.