Big_John Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Hi all, Did my first full (ish) service on the 90 the other week (300Tdi), quite satisfying, but a couple of questions... My mileage is going to be pretty low, around 4k miles/year. I'm planning on 2 oil & filter changes a year, but what about the rest of the items - should I stick with the mileage intervals given or convert them into months - 1k miles = 1 month? When I came to doing the swivel oils it was really slow to drain - really thick, the manual says it will be slow unless fully warmed up, which it wasn't, so I didn't think much of it apart from the really dark grey colour which seemed odd. Eventually I had to give up before they'd fully drained and refill with oil as I'd run out of time. Only now do I take proper notice of the little stickers on the windscreen which say it's had one-shot grease installed - how did I miss them for the last 4 months?? So, what I have is swivel housings with the proper oil drain and fill holes, retro-fitted with one-shot grease, and now half (maybe more than half) filled with oil!! What do you think I should do now? Will they be fine like that? Haven't noticed any problems so far. Is the one-shot better than oil? I guess it's less likely to leak, so should I drain and re-fill with grease, or is oil better 'cos that's how it was designed in the first place? John btw, I've written a little Excel service record spreadsheet if anyone's interested, lists all of the items and has the part no.s & intervals on it, so you put in the date done and it tells you when eash item is next due. Needs a little cleaning up, and should be fairly easy to convert to use miles instead of dates. If anyone wants a copy I'll tidy it up and post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iomlt Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 if i was you (maybe wrong maybe right) i would again flush the housing out with oil (ideally strip and reasemble) and refill with oil, they were built and designed for oil (that age of lr) and if they leak then you know you have a seal problem and needs attention. so many people bang on about how great 1 shot grease is but in my opinion your hiding the fault. if oil can drain out water can get in and like you say if your going to service the machine alot then you can drain and refil easily and make sure there is no water in and put new oil in. where as with grease if water gets in how would you know until the damage is done or if at all. like i said just my view and if the seals are leaking then its more expense but at least you know its correct and your not hiding / putting off the job by using grease. many people my tell you i'm wrong but this is just my view. your 90 you do what you think is best or to budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white90 Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 I had oil then went to grease then back to oil grease migrates to the diff oil and then you end up with bugger all in there. Oil in mine with a bit of grease that the Ashcroft CVs come with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 Thanks guys, oil it is then. Anyone got a view on the service intervals - should I stick with the mileages even though I'm only doing 4k a year or go on time intervals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 A lot of modern lubricants deteriorate with age and that is why the service interval is in both miles and a certain time period - you do it on whichever comes first. If you do very low mileages I would be tempted to just replace the engine oil though - thicker oils, such as EP80/90 are less likely to be a problem if they are old I reckon. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 This old git is old fashioned. I service every 6,000 miles or six months, which ever comes first. Swivels. Anybody used EP140 in the swivels ?? mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimAttrill Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 If you get water in the swivel grease it makes a helluva mess and is very difficult to clean out properly. If you get water in the oil you just drain it out and refill, repeating until the oil is not emulsified. On the oil vs. grease front I have oil in my Defender wheel bearings like the old Series and the bearings are very happy. A strange thing - when I check my front diff oil it is always overfull - is it migrating from the swivels? Not that I worry about this very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco_al Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 the migration of the swivel grease would probably explain the grey goop that i drained out of my front diff last weekend then....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WALFY Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I had oil then went to grease then back to oilgrease migrates to the diff oil and then you end up with bugger all in there. Oil in mine with a bit of grease that the Ashcroft CVs come with When I purchased my Ashcrofts CV's I questioned Dave about what to use.He said grease. Wether that is a specification of his warrenty I'm not sure. So I have 1 shot grease in mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white90 Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I advised Dave on what I'm running and he never mentioned the grease/oil when I returned them for some work. Luckily they aren't a company that would sherk any responsibility. not that I am insinuating that anyone would, just stating facts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WALFY Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Tony Totaly agree with you. I just didn't want to be caught out with a technicality on the warrenty. Now I have dealt with them I have no worries about the warrenty. But I had grease so it went in. Not that I have a shortage of oil to go in. Lots at work in big drums Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrfarmer Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 in my disco i use grease and keep them topped up with oil makes i thicker than oil but thiner than grease when i got the disco it had grease in and i have had problems with the top swivel bearings so i don't think the one shot grease gets thrown up anuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Member Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 A strange thing - when I check my front diff oil it is always overfull - is it migrating from the swivels? Not that I worry about this very much. Yes, the swivel fill levels are higher than the axle fill levels. It always migrates as those seals never hold. I always discard the seals between the axle and swivels when they are apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimAttrill Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Yes, the swivel fill levels are higher than the axle fill levels. It always migrates as those seals never hold. I always discard the seals between the axle and swivels when they are apart. Ah, makes sense. Rather like the rear axle seal which I fixed by pulling the half-shaft in and out a few times. Then the bearings get nice and oily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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