pgrbff Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 One of the steering swivels on my 300Tdi has started leaking. Is it ok to just replace the oil seels or does it mean the balls are probably worn and need replacing? Can one replace with sealed grease swivels or do I need to stay with the old oil filled version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 You can tell if the swivel ball is in good condition by looking at it (pitting from corrosion). Leaks can also be cause by the swivel bearings being worn - jack the wheel off the ground and try rocking it at 12 and 6 o'clock. Housing should be filled with grease, not oil. The seals themselves don't tend to fail on their own - something else makes them fail. Les Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrbff Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 Its a 95 300Tdi and they're definitely oil, the oil needs changing along with the gbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetsu0san Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Turn the wheels to opposite lock, you'll soon see if your swivels are pitted. Fill with one shot grease anyway, even if they had oil. That might cure the leak but if the balls are pitted it will only get worse. Check for bearing play too, like Les said as this will cause the seal to not seal (if you get my drift). Replacing the seals is not a hard job, but it's the dirtiest job you could do on a Land Rover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotts90 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Do you know if someone has removed the internal half shaft oil seal to allow the swivels to be lubed by the diff oil? If they have then yes, you may well have oil in the swivels....however if they are still in place then the internal half shaft seal has failed. As mentioned they "should" have one shot grease as that's they way there designed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrbff Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 My manual clearly states "swivel pin housings, non-TD5 models, hypoid gear oil" 350ml oil each. TD5 EP00 grease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotts90 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 My 300tdi manual says later " fill plug only equipped " housings get grease. I've never put oil in any of my swivels tbh, they've always had rebuilds then one shot grease without any issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I've never had a problem with one shot swivel grease in older swivels. It doesn't leak if you have a bit of corrosion on the ball like ep90 does. Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Souster Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Another vote for the grease. If it's good enough for the later models, it's good enough for mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 In theory grease may not splash lubricate the upper railko bush as well as EP90 does, however that may well be one of those old wives tales that is generally known but no one actually has any evidence of it happening. Probably depends on journey patterns as I imagine once warmed up the one-shot is quite liquid. I'm happy with EP90 in mine, but then I replaced the corroded swivel balls about 5 years ago so there is no leakage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaklander Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Replacing the seals is not a hard job, but it's the dirtiest job you could do on a Land Rover. Hi, found it quite hard when I did it . I've done this job on both sides. The nearside needed lots of work so the swivel housing was disassembled anyway, so making seal access easy. However a few months later the offside started to leak and I replaced the seal by undoing the whole assembly from the stub axle and withdrawing the half-shalf with it (short length side so easier than the nearside would be. I followed a top-tip somewhere and turned the whole thing up in the air and located it in a spare wheel rim so I could work on it. That saved a lot of oily / greasy mess. Undoing the seven(?) bolts into the half shaft was tricky - requiring a long 12 point spanner to get the turning force and security on the head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 I'm doing a little experiment just now where I had two pretty pitted swivel balls, I striped them down and cleaned them, and filled the pitting with a metal epoxy then sanded back and re installed the last couple of swivel oil seal changes I've done by just splitting it off the axle. Yet to drive the truck with the repaired balls, but quite hopeful. I always replace the 12 point bolts that holds the swivels on, add they're kinda critical and cheap as chips to replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrbff Posted September 13, 2015 Author Share Posted September 13, 2015 Mine aren't pitted at all so I guess I may get away with just changing the seals. Anything else I should change whilst I'm at it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Of course, you could cheat and do it the military way http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=7305 Les Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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