Aleci

The two torsion bar http://www.4x4abc.com/images/tech/torsions.jpeg bolts were undone. They had jacked the car up, and I assume that they undid the tension bars to give a bit of movement to the axle so that they could remove and replace the Diff. Got the spanners, got the manual, got the socket set, time is the problem. I do the simple stuff, change the brake pads, shocks, fuel pump, belts etc, but the clutch is too bloody heavy when you do not have decent kit. I have to change the clutch once a year and it is just easier to have someone do it, never had a problem until this time, and I only changed from the guy I used before because he could not do it until a week later, and I had to drive to Uruguay. This mechanic has just built an Engesa for a client, kit job with a Triton chassis etc. Looks great, http://mecanicabaruel4x4.g3wsites.com/fotos/ but after all of this fiasco I fear for the buyer.

Well, I managed to get a used Diff. cost me $700.... the joys of living in Brasil.Then discovered a site called www.landroverpecas.com.br that sell direct from the UK, I could have got a brand new Diff, including the deliveryand the whopping 70+ tax, for about the same prices, but oh well. Anyway, finally got the car back, mechanic still saying that they do not think that they were responsible for anything going wrong.... so drove the car home, I live in a place called Serra de Cantareira, and its only about 18 kilometers from his garage, but its all hills and forest and bendy roads. So drove the car home, bit slow because it was bad weather and as I said, all bends and hills. Couple of days later we went to the local town, and it was the first opportunity to get it to above 50km, so when we hit 80km, the car is wobbling all over the damn place, so it looked like maybe the Steering Damper had packed up, perhaps after stressing everything with the Diff, the Damper just had enough. So I kept the car down to about 50km and had to put up wth it for about a week until I had time to get someone to have a look for me. So the first time we went down the hills, back into the city, it became apparent that it could not wait, driving round corners was taking your life in your own hands, and it really was not much fun. Had to pass a friends house to pick him up, and I mentioned about the wobble, and demonstrated by building the speed up on a straight, he was none too happy at the strange sensation of sliding around all over the place. He asked me to stop so that he could have a look, he also thought it might be the Damper, or perhaps the Swivels. After a look round, he pointed out the 2 rear Tension Bolts that had not been re-tightened and hanging loose, Now I am not sure if the mechanic is taking the tiddle, or if he really is just that incompetent.

They dropped the gearbox to do the change so they removed the centre console, and in fact they also forgot to connect the cigarette lighter as I use that to connect the GPS, and the Dash Warning light was working beforehand, but nothing at all showed this time. Problem now is that I have to pay for the replacement part, and then claim through the courts afterwards, but as I am in Brasil, the parts are costing approximately 3 times the cost of buying them elsewhere, its painful to say the least.

Hey Dude, thanks a lot for the info, at least now I can go back and will know when he is bull****ting me, it looks like this is going to9 end up being a courtcase because he denies any of it is his fault. Nt important that it had the Diff engaged, no reduction and no dash light, he says he is not at fault and even it was engaged it would not blow the Diff. This guy actually build 4x4s from scratch for clients, rather worrying. Anyway, thanks a lot, its highly appreciated.

Well, the mechanic is basically trying to deny any liability. He says that the rear Diff has obviously blown but that it was old and obviously worn. He has no explanation as to why the car would be in Diff position, but with no reduction, and in any case, even if it was in Diff and not reduced gearing it would not create a problem with the Diff etc. Now I am pretty certain that if the Diff is engaged but the low gearing is not working and the dash light is not wokring because they forgot to wire it back up, that they are at fault. He says he does not understand how that could happen, I assume it was because they forgot to connect the lever up. Not being particularly mechanical, as is shown from all of the above, it is difficult to argue with him, because he says the two are not connected, I need to be able to show that it is, so anyone that can tell me what would happen I would very much appreciate a decent explanation. Also I read above that it could creat rpoblems with the transfer box and forward Diff, is this also the case?. Fact is that the car is in his shop, I have to get it resolved even if I have to pay for it for now, but then I would take him to court afterwards to reclaim my costs, so I need to know what the hell I am talking about, even if its just the basics. Any help would be great, and thanks for the help so far.

Sorry missed a part, lever was at theock position before it was changed, in diff position afterwards, but driving at normal speeds. To be honest I did look at the lever a couple of times only because subconsciously it seemed wrong, but only use the diff maybe twice a year so did not notice, they screwed up, and I did not pay enough attention. Damn

Thanks guys. The lever was not knocked into Diff, we had been on freeway for about 200 kilometers and had been in the same gear and about the same speed, so no need to change. I think the mechanic forgot to like it back up because we were driving like that from the moment we picked it up from his place. He builds 4 wheel jobs from scratch, but it was one of his guys that did the work. Now just got to wait and see what he says tomorrow.

Hoping that someone might be able to shed some light on this. Sorry its a bit long. We had to get a new Clutch sorted out and also the steering was a bit loose, so took it into a 4x4 specialist who has done work on the car previously. He changed the Clutch, tightened up the steering, and I drove it round the block just to make sure that it appeared to be running OK, which it was. Drove home that night and the next day we set off on our trip, which was 4,000 kilometers in 5 days. Car drove at normal velocity, 110km per hour, no vibration, no problems etc. After about 800 kilometers we blew a tyre, rear driver side, so we changed for the spare and tried to get the original one repaired, but it was a goner, balloon type bulge from the inside out. We managed to get a used spare just to make sure we were covered and off we went. When we parked up at night, it was the first time that we had driven slow or, in a tight circle, and we were getting tyre screech at less than 10 km per hour, which I put down to the type of tarmac. We continued on the rest of the way, and apart from a little bit of a noisy clutch change there was nothing too untoward. We stopped at a tyre centre with the intent of buying two new tyres, and mentioned about the screechy tyres, but they could not see any problems, and perhaps it was a little bit of an allignment problem, although there was no vibration, and we should get it alligned once we had completed our journey. They did not have our tyre size. On the way back, another tyre blew, this time the rear passenger side, and we were forced into using the used spare, so that we could drive the 5 kilometers to the nearest town. It became apparent that the tyre screech was now a lot worse, so we drove at about 20 kilometers per hour, just to get to the nearest town and buy new tyres. We did not arrive, big bang, and after looking under the car we saw that the oil was pouring out of the rear Diff, caused by a piece of metal that had speared its way through the casing from the inside out, which appears to be a broken Differential Cross Shaft. Later when I looked, I noticed that the Differential Lever was in forward position, Diff position, but the car had been driving normally, at normal speeds, and I remembered the mechanic telling his guy to take the car out of Diff as he was pulling out of the yard so that I could test drive it. And it drove normally, and I had no need to either check the lever or alter it. So can someone please tell me what the hell happened, I am assuming that they did something wrong when they put the new clutch in, because the Diff lever is positioned wrong, but as I said it was driving at normal speeds, not with a Diff engaged. On reading up later I noticed about squeaky tyres, blown tires etc on other 4 x 4 vehicles so have just put it all together, but I have to go back to this mechanic and see what happened, and would prefer to know what it could be. Any help would be appreciated. Discovery 1, 1998.

Hoping that someone might be able to shed some light on this. Sorry its a bit long. We had to get a new Clutch sorted out and also the steering was a bit loose, so took it into a 4x4 specialist who has done work on the car previously. He changed the Clutch, tightened up the steering, and I drove it round the block just to make sure that it appeared to be running OK, which it was. Drove home that night and the next day we set off on our trip, which was 4,000 kilometers in 5 days. Car drove at normal velocity, 110km per hour, no vibration, no problems etc. After about 800 kilometers we blew a tyre, rear driver side, so we changed for the spare and tried to get the original one repaired, but it was a goner, balloon type bulge from the inside out. We managed to get a used spare just to make sure we were covered and off we went. When we parked up at night, it was the first time that we had driven slow or, in a tight circle, and we were getting tyre screech at less than 10 km per hour, which I put down to the type of tarmac. We continued on the rest of the way, and apart from a little bit of a noisy clutch change there was nothing too untoward. We stopped at a tyre centre with the intent of buying two new tyres, and mentioned about the screechy tyres, but they could not see any problems, and perhaps it was a little bit of an allignment problem, although there was no vibration, and we should get it alligned once we had completed our journey. They did not have our tyre size. On the way back, another tyre blew, this time the rear passenger side, and we were forced into using the used spare, so that we could drive the 5 kilometers to the nearest town. It became apparent that the tyre screech was now a lot worse, so we drove at about 20 kilometers per hour, just to get to the nearest town and buy new tyres. We did not arrive, big bang, and after looking under the car we saw that the oil was pouring out of the rear Diff, caused by a piece of metal that had speared its way through the casing from the inside out, which appears to be a broken Differential Cross Shaft. Later when I looked, I noticed that the Differential Lever was in forward position, Diff position, but the car had been driving normally, at normal speeds, and I remembered the mechanic telling his guy to take the car out of Diff as he was pulling out of the yard so that I could test drive it. And it drove normally, and I had no need to either check the lever or alter it. So can someone please tell me what the hell happened, I am assuming that they did something wrong when they put the new clutch in, because the Diff lever is positioned wrong, but as I said it was driving at normal speeds, not with a Diff engaged. On reading up later I noticed about squeaky tyres, blown tires etc on other 4 x 4 vehicles so have just put it all together, but I have to go back to this mechanic and see what happened, and would prefer to know what it could be. Any help would be appreciated.