fishsponge's ongoing thread of problems!

[wickford90]

Take your right hand out of your pants and you will be surprised how fast you can do things.

 

[jamesmartin]

i would settle for just oil change new oil will clean it if not too bad a condition of old oil,and if it is bad oil then wont matter anyhow

 

[matthew2riches]

doesn't take long? everyone always says that... but i can't believe removing part of my chassis is a quick job... changing the rear prop shaft doughnut took me 3 hours, for example and it's only 10 bolts! lol

It is literally the bit that sits below the gearbox. A few bolts and a bit of leverage and it'll come out

If not bring it over to me

 

[Mr Noisy]

fish, the sachet of swivel grease is the correct amount, it fills the swivels about half full.

you do not need any more or any less than one sachet per swivel.

ep90 is cheap even for a broke man so always buy just that little bit more. buiy 7 litres, that accounts for spillage etc.

 

[fishsponge]

regarding the auto gearbox filter, the ATF in there is still cherry red and smells normal, but it does struggle to lock-up the torque converter when I go over 50mph early on in my journeys. It always locks up over 50mph when everything's warmed up, and it locks up better when cold if I rev the engine quite a lot, but not enough to make it kick down, of course.

Could changing the filter help with this? If so, I should do it. If not, there's probably no point.

matthew2riches - where are you based (roughly)??

Mr. Noisy: how can I fill the swivel housing with the correct amount though? they already have some grease in them, but i've no idea how much, and grease doesn't tend to settle down to a level as such - it tends to cling to everything, thereby making level detection impossible.

 

[jamesmartin]

no ,changing oil will make more difference if valves are sluggish,slow to take up drive when cold would be an indicator of blocked filter

 

[matthew2riches]

regarding the auto gearbox filter, the ATF in there is still cherry red and smells normal, but it does struggle to lock-up the torque converter when I go over 50mph early on in my journeys. It always locks up over 50mph when everything's warmed up, and it locks up better when cold if I rev the engine quite a lot, but not enough to make it kick down, of course.

Could changing the filter help with this? If so, I should do it. If not, there's probably no point.

matthew2riches - where are you based (roughly)??

Mr. Noisy: how can I fill the swivel housing with the correct amount though? they already have some grease in them, but i've no idea how much, and grease doesn't tend to settle down to a level as such - it tends to cling to everything, thereby making level detection impossible.

Ipswich.

 

[Mr Noisy]

fish, has any grease leaked out since you last filled the housings? or have you done any work on them since which has involved losing some grease?

the original amount of grease should still be in there!

if you want ot get rid of it, best bet i find is to pour some solvent into the swivels (petrol works good) and give the discs a good spin both straight ahead and with the wheels turned both ways.

this will flush out a lot of the grease, but takes time and ideally compressed air to dry the swivels out again before greasing.

other option is to remove drain plug in swivels and blow on filler hole which will squirt the old grease out of the bottom hole.

you can now refill.

its not hugely critical as most people fill the swivels with oil right up to the filler hole when really the level is just half way up the swivel (the fill plug is big, the drain plug is small, the level plug is tiny and very hard to see)

basically a little extra grease wont harm.

 

[Brian S]

The gearbox mount needs to be moved slightly to get to one of the sump bolts.

I did not remove mine, just undone the 4 large bolts and moved it over a tiny bit.

Just have a jack under the transfer box to support it while you work.

 

[thebiglad]

Oil quantities and type:

Auto gearbox - even though the total quantity in the box is 9 ltrs, you will only get out approx 4.5ltrs at any one time - please DO NOT ask why, just accept this OK?

So you need a 5 ltr can of ATF Dexron IID or III

Forget completely about doing the autobox filter: you don't have the mechanical aptitude and you'll damage something.

Transfer box - Quantity 2.3ltrs; type EP 80w-90 to GL5 standard. This is the normal std nowadays.

Each Diff - Quantity 1.7ltrs; Type EP80w-90 to GL5 standard.

So you can see that as James said you will 6 ltrs of EP oil.

Leave for at least ten minutes, each component to drain out the old oil .


Now please, please, stop asking questions, go buy your oil doing the fûcking job.

 

[fishsponge]

no ,changing oil will make more difference if valves are sluggish,slow to take up drive when cold would be an indicator of blocked filter

Ah, OK... well it's not slow to take up drive at all, and it changes gear as smooth as anything. Just doesn't like locking up at 50mph until it's done it a few times.

Given the hassle of having to dismantle part of the chassis to get at the filter, and given that it doesn't seem that it'll make any difference, I don't think i'll bother with the autobox filter this time.

Ipswich.

it'll cost me £38 to get to you and back in diesel... thank you for the offer, but i might do that if I get really stuck if it's OK

As for having a jack under the transfer box when I work, that's not possible. All I have is the standard Land Rover bottle jack and it'll need one hell of a lot of stuff underneath it for it to reach up that far - it wouldn't be safe in my case!

fish, has any grease leaked out since you last filled the housings? or have you done any work on them since which has involved losing some grease?

No grease has leaked out since the swivel balls were checked and "topped up" by Nene Overland. They replaced one of them entirely, so I know that one's fine. I think i'll buy just a single one-shot and put as much of it as I can in the other one.

Oil quantities and type:

Auto gearbox - even though the total quantity in the box is 9 ltrs, you will only get out approx 4.5ltrs at any one time - please DO NOT ask why, just accept this OK?

So you need a 5 ltr can of ATF Dexron IID or III

Forget completely about doing the autobox filter: you don't have the mechanical aptitude and you'll damage something.

Transfer box - Quantity 2.3ltrs; type EP 80w-90 to GL5 standard. This is the normal std nowadays.

Each Diff - Quantity 1.7ltrs; Type EP80w-90 to GL5 standard.

So you can see that as James said you will 6 ltrs of EP oil.

Leave for at least ten minutes, each component to drain out the old oil .


Now please, please, stop asking questions, go buy your oil doing the fûcking job.

ok, ok... I want to get this done, I really do. Getting conflicting answers doesn't really help me though... hence all the damn questions!

Anyway, 5 litres of ATF Dextron IID should be enough to do the gearbox, but not the power steering. I will assume that it's still cherry red and smells decent though, so I won't bother with the power steering this time.

As for EP90, everyone's been calling it that so far, but you've called it "EP80w-90 to GL5 standard", so i'll ask for that instead. I guess it's exactly the same, just multigraded and of a known quality.

So anyway... based on everything so far, here's my shopping list of part numbers for my 1997 300Tdi Discovery auto:

1x ERR3340 (oil filter)
1x AEU2147L (fuel filter)
1x UAM2857L or ALU1403L (sump plug washer)
2x 232039 (diff drain plug washer)
5 litres of ATF Dextron IID (to do auto gearbox)
6 litres of EP80w-90 to GL5 standard (to do transfer box & diffs)
1x STC3435 (one-shot swivel housing grease)

Any other washers? gaskets? O rings? oil seals? fluids? filters? anything at all I've missed off??

I already have tons of engine oil so no need to buy any.

Basically, is there *ANYTHING* else I will need because, as usual, if I get half way through this and need something, I'm stuffed. I will not be able to leave my house to buy anything and I will not be able to get to work on the Monday - this is a one-shot deal for me - i need everything to be here on the day!

I will get on with this soon... really I will.

 

[matthew2riches]

Go on then, run along and buy it. You could have it all done by this afternoon!

 

[fishsponge]

i couldn't have it done by this afternoon - i'm at work! lol

Do you think that list is complete and there is *nothing* missing from it??

 

[matthew2riches]

You might as well do your air filter while you're at it.

 

[fishsponge]

air filter, much to my disgust, is a K&N cone filter - i clean that with the hosepipe and respray with a little filter oil. horrible thing and as soon as I find a solution for the snorkel, it'll be gone.

other than that, the list looks good?

 

[thebiglad]

I buy all my service stuff from here due to value and convenience.

Filter Kit - Disco 300TDI

or

Filter Kit - Disco 300TDI - Premium Brands - this package comes with washers as well, as you can see.

They deliver stuff to your door, which may be helpful and both kits include a new air filter.

And before you ask, go for the Premiums brands kit as it's better value.

Re the swivels - if they have been treated to "one shot grease" that's all they need, so you won't need to buy any more.

Incidently I've just seen that Paddocks are doing oils now as well so if you wanted to, your could order the whole lot from them and if it's over £50 it's delivered for free:

For the auto gearbox: Millermatic ATF UN - 5 Litres


For the diffs and transfer box: Millers TRX 75W90 Semi Synthetic Oil - 5 Litres

Millers do good oils so you will have no worries there. By the way, there are not normally any washers for the diffs, it's just a tapered plug, so nothing to buy there either.

 

[fishsponge]

thanks for that! Once I add a one-shot sachet & diff drain plug washers, it comes to £15.90 inc. VAT, before shipping.

I already actually placed an order with lrdirect, and it came to £20.05 inc. VAT, before shipping.

Oh well... maybe it is cheaper to buy a filter kit and throw away the air filter rather than buy the other parts individually!

Anyway... that's done now. All I have to order is the oils... 5 litres of ATF Dextron IID & 6 litres of EP80w-90 to GL5 standard.

You have linked to ATF UN though instead of ATF Dextron IID. Is that the same stuff?

And I was told to put EP80w-90 to GL5 standard into the diffs and transfer box, but you have linked to "TRX 75W90". Not quite the same stuff, but good enough for high mileage and long-term use?

 

[thebiglad]

thanks for that! Once I add a one-shot sachet & diff drain plug washers, it comes to £15.90 inc. VAT, before shipping.

I already actually placed an order with lrdirect, and it came to £20.05 inc. VAT, before shipping.

Oh well... maybe it is cheaper to buy a filter kit and throw away the air filter rather than buy the other parts individually!

Anyway... that's done now. All I have to order is the oils... 5 litres of ATF Dextron IID & 6 litres of EP80w-90 to GL5 standard.

You have linked to ATF UN though instead of ATF Dextron IID. Is that the same stuff?

And I was told to put EP80w-90 to GL5 standard into the diffs and transfer box, but you have linked to "TRX 75W90". Not quite the same stuff, but good enough for high mileage and long-term use?

Re the autobox oil ATF is auto transmission fluid and UN is the Millers trade name for that oil, which is to the std Dexron IID - so it is the correct std oil for your vehicle. If you had read the specs you would have seen that.

Now, re the EP oil for the diffs and tranny box: LR in there infinite wisdom specify EP80-90 back in the 1990's but do you know what those numbers mean?

The first number is the viscosity at 0°C and the second number is the viscosity at 100°C. So the difference between 75 and 80 for your purposes here is irrelevant but using the 75 will actually give the components greater protection at low temps because it permeates better. It is also to GL5 std.

Oil technology and stds are improving all the time so oil that was recommended 20 years ago when these Disco were first being built has been surpassed many times by newer, improved versions. The important bit about oils for cars is to use the right type of oil in the right component. So multigrade engine oil such as a semi synth 10w-40 for the engine; atf to Dexron IID or III for the auto gearbox; EP HYPOID multigrade 75 or 80w-90 to GL5 for the transfer box and diffs.

The single most important part about lubrication and cars is to change the oils often. This keeps the lubrication quality high and washes away harmful debris.

To summarise, the oils I quoted are OK for your purposes in your vehicle - nuff said?

 

[fishsponge]

Re the autobox oil ATF is auto transmission fluid and UN is the Millers trade name for that oil, which is to the std Dexron IID - so it is the correct std oil for your vehicle. If you had read the specs you would have seen that.

Well, I did read the specs and I search for the word Dextron, but didn't see it. Ah well, it's the right one, so thank you for finding that

Now, re the EP oil for the diffs and tranny box: LR in there infinite wisdom specify EP80-90 back in the 1990's but do you know what those numbers mean?

The first number is the viscosity at 0°C and the second number is the viscosity at 100°C. So the difference between 75 and 80 for your purposes here is irrelevant but using the 75 will actually give the components greater protection at low temps because it permeates better. It is also to GL std.

To summarise, the oils I quoted are OK for your purposes in your vehicle - nuff said?

sounds good to me! I'll see if I can cancel my LRdirect order and get it all from paddocks!

 

[fishsponge]

right... LRDirect order cancelled, and PaddockSpares order placed for:

Oil Filter - Coopers ERR3340C 1 £2.25
Fuel Filter AEU2147L 1 £4.45
Sump drain plug sealing washer UAM2857L 1 £0.42
Sump drain plug sealing washer from (E)16L88229A - 300TDI ALU1403L 1 £0.25
Axle Drain Plug Washer 232039 2 £0.48
Millermatic ATF UN - 5 Litres 5386GS 1 £14.50
Millers TRX 75W90 Semi Synthetic Oil - 5 Litres 5522GS 2 £39.00
One-Shot Grease STC3435 1 £3.05

I ordered 10 litres of 75W90 mainly cos I need either 5 or 6, I might spill some and I'll need it in future anyway.

So... along with the 500ml oil pump, that should be all I need!