Servicing Tasks

[bishbosh]

Whilst out and about today running erands, I was just exiting a roundabout when I heard a god awful noise. Looked across the traffic island separating the two carriageways and there was a Disco with its front prop flailing about.

I of course stopped, offered to help, went home and got tools (5mins only so no biggie) and removed the front prop for the couple in the car with their two under two in the back .

Whilst talking to them I asked if they paid someone to service their vehicle or did it themselves. Answer was that they paid as they are not mechanically inclined. The reason I asked was that the prop had not been greased in a long long time - the grease that was there was completely dried out and hard. I told them this and suggested they might take issue with their mechanic as it was "serviced" in December and had not done many miles since. Thanks to the lack of attention the prop is now probably scrap and they were lucky not to have trashed the gearbox casing as they were going slowly when it went.

So what does the panel think? Is greasing propshafts part of garage "servicing"? I would have said yes as I am sure it would be itemised on a LR service shedule.

[wkw90]

Well i do my own , but if i had paid someone to service it i would think it should be done to land rovers standards

[rtbarton]

Grease nipples are there to be used

[David Sparkes]

Disco I or Disco II?

Item 43 on the D II Service Schedule "Lubricate propeller shaft universal/ sliding joints" every 12 thousand miles.

[Les Henson]

Props should be checked and greased as part of the service - it only takes 5-minutes anyway. I do a service and a vehicle inspection afterwards.

Les.

[BogMonster]

Any mechanic who doesn't grease a prop at every service should be shot IMHO!

I usually do mine at least once between services as well.

[smo]

Only if its on the LR schedule will they even think about doing it....if its not on there then it definitely wont be done!

[Steve 90]

We grease props and check the U.J. and for sign of them being loose as I think everyone should do at service. If I found that one of the lads working for me had missed something like this out of a service he'd be put right. Its part of the service no different to checking anything else be it gear box oil level, diff oil level, checking the brakes whatever.

I increasingly see people coming in and asking for a quote for a service, When they are talked through it and depending on what service and car it is there's between 2-4 hours labour on the quote they seem horrified. Then go on to tell me that some bloke down the road will do a full service for £80 including parts. Even at the cheapest labour rate they are not doing much for that. Funny thing is, a couple of years down the line when these people have been having their car serviced on the cheap and the cars falling to bits round them they are the first to complain about the poor work they were getting for their £80 service but in the end its their own fault.

The other thing we often see is stuff thats comes to us for the first time after its warranty period, having been serviced by a main dealer for 3 years. The first time we service them its obvious that half the cars never been touched. So much for "full main dealer service history"

More often than not you get what you pay for,If they are too cheap beware and if they have a big flash show room and waiting area id also be careful, Who's paying for all that!

At the moment were ok because we are very busy, Were in a small community and I cant remember the last time we were not fully booked at least 3-4 weeks in advance and hope that is due to a good reputation for good honest work but if one day we did go quiet, What should I do? Cut quality of work to be competitive? Id rather sell up to be honest. We arn't expensive (£30 an hour), We just do a decent job which there seems to be less and less of these days.

[Steve 90]

BTW, the prop on my challenge truck gets done every time I use it ! But thats usually just to be sure its not got water standing in the joints.

[Scotian]

I took my landover to Strathearn Engeneering (local landrover place to my mums and Galvy Chassis specialist in the magazine ads) and asked them to change my gearbox oil and while they were at it let me know if anything needs doing before I drive the 2000 miles to romania. I didnt have any scrappy clothes with me at the time and I was away from home or I would have done it myself.

Anyway.. They did the gear box oil and without asking put some 15 pounds worth of additive that I didnt ask for. The bill came to 85 pounds!!!! In the shock of the price (I didnt even think of asking them for a quote for such a basic task) I asked what they spotted wrong underneath. They told me about the steering box that was dripping (already knew) radius arm bushes were done in (about to change them now 9 months later :-s ) and the props needed greasing. I asked them if they greased them for my while they were under there and they looked at me like I had two heads then when I asked if they can do it now they said they dont have time.

So. in summary, they charged 85 pounds for a gear box oil change and didnt even bother greasing 6 nipples when they noticed they need doing.

That story is stretching the topic a bit but it shows that garages simply cant be bothered to do jobs like that. Maybe they want you to come back with a broken UJ sooner so they can get money for fixing it.

[BigSi110]

I try and grease my props once a month as a preventative maintenance procedure.

Assuming I can get the bloody grease gun to work properly.

[rtbarton]

Assuming I can get the bloody grease gun to work properly.

Ah Ha! - lack of maintenance

[hattymender]

I love greasing all the joints. One of the most satisfying jobs you can do. Am I going kinky?

[BigSi110]

Nope. Lack of technique.

[BigMac1]

Yep!

We do them everytime the vehicle comes in, no matter what vehicle it is, truck, van or 4x4. There in every 12 weeks as its part of the contract for the fleet anyway.

I grease my own props everytime i've got the vehilce over the ramp/pit for one reason or another.

As they say prevention is better than cure.

Mick

[Scotian]

All nipples are greased on the 3monthly service schedual in the army. I never had a UJ fail me in the army. I guess thats why.

[Madcowz]

This is an excellent topic as I have only just got a landy (3 weeks ago) and just bought a grease gun and really need some advice (took me ages to fill it, how embarrassing!).

Firstly: how much grease do I put in the nipples?

And secondly, my neighbour gave me some of these from the farm:

are they ok to use? They use it on all the machinery on the farm.

And how often should I do them. We were axle deep in cow sh*t today and digging deep ruts in very wet fields while trying to shoot some wabbits.

thanks,

/mad

[western]

grease the nipples every 3,000 miles or 3 months that will be ample protection for the UJ's & sliding joi9nts, 4 strokes of the grease gun will be sufficent.

[ciderman]

Good stuff that , use the same on mine .

[Paul64]

My Defender had a so called full service when I bought it. The grease nipple was missing fore rear prop and when replaced took 25 shots into the sliding joint. The company had two weeks to prepare the vehicle before I picked it up!

[reads90]

I remeber being told by serveal land rover garages that they are fed up with people with disco's like this . It is normally this or CV's done dry and smashed to bits.

The reason is people take them to the "local Garage " as they are cheaper than their local land rover garage ( and i am taking speacilist and not Dealers) . But their local garage the idea of a service is engine oil change and filter change and that is it. But the land rover garage is more expensive beacuse they are doing Swivals oil, Diff oil, and greaseing the props.

Then the people moan when they come in whith the front cv in bits along with their stub axle and everything else. Costing them alot more than what they ever saved having it seviced by the local little garage

[Paul64]

A full service is not an oil and filter change. If they are only doing this and claiming you are getting the full deal they are ripping you off. In my naivety I bought my Defender from a so called "specialist". It was claimed that it was fully serviced and full working order. He even got it through an MOT. When I took it to Germany it had to be road tested over there. The tester laughed at it and took it straight off the road! That was just the start of it. As all claims turned out to be false, Rejo serviced it for me. No oil was changed apart from the engine. Diffs, transfer etc, all old and plenty of metal shavings at the bottom. I paid more than I should have for my LR, but thought a specialist with a so called good reputation would have done better. Bl**dy short sighted as only saves a few quid and then risks a slagging on public forums. I just don't understand this quick buck mentality as there is so much competition out there and word of mouth spreads fast.

[Mo Murphy]

Paul,

You're not supposed to fill the sliding joint ! The splines should be well greased then one shot of grease each time you do the UJs, otherwise you can get hydraulic lock in the sliding joint and it won't compress properly and your Ujs won't like that one little bit

While we're talking grease guns, can any one recommend a cartridge type gun that has a small enough nozzle to do UJ nipples comfortably instead of the struggle i have now

Mo

[wkw90]

Paul,

You're not supposed to fill the sliding joint ! The splines should be well greased then one shot of grease each time you do the UJs, otherwise you can get hydraulic lock in the sliding joint and it won't compress properly and your Ujs won't like that one little bit

While we're talking grease guns, can any one recommend a cartridge type gun that has a small enough nozzle to do UJ nipples comfortably instead of the struggle i have now

Mo

Mo i think i may have one you can have

[Paul64]

Paul,

You're not supposed to fill the sliding joint ! The splines should be well greased then one shot of grease each time you do the UJs, otherwise you can get hydraulic lock in the sliding joint and it won't compress properly and your Ujs won't like that one little bit

While we're talking grease guns, can any one recommend a cartridge type gun that has a small enough nozzle to do UJ nipples comfortably instead of the struggle i have now

Mo

Noise levels reduced dramatically after greasing Mo and certainly no problems since. I just can't see how it would lock if the excess oozes out the end of the slider.

nas90 - "Can be difficult to tell the difference between a UJ with play and /or transfer box or axle. Hold both sides of UJ joint and try to twist one side against the other. Any play is bad. Grease the sliding joint first, the excess grease comes out of a rubber bung on the end of the sliding part. There are 3 nipples per prop shaft

I use a very cheap gun given away with machines it does not have a clip-on type nozzle and therefore easy to get on the nipple. Proper LR mechanics buy a needle attachment for the gun, you push the needle into the sprung ball of the nipple works a treat biggrin.gif

I always grease before off-roading and if time after off-roading. If you have been through heavy rain / fords then grease again. If you were to grease your 90 daily you could make a prop shaft last 20 years laugh.gif

Basically more the better and too much is never a bad thing!"