How to recondition a VCU yourself.

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So had some time today and opend up the VCU I had laying around. Cleaned and refilled half and put the plates in. Drilled the top and put 2 grease nipples. And welded everything.
Continued to refill the rest and seems to have done the job.
To refill I used a 60ml syring on 1 nipple which I drilled to remove the ball bearing and from the other I put on a vacum bleeding gun so I could suck the air out while sucking the silicone fluid in from the other syring and it worked a treat.
Now I left it to rest so all boubles can raise to the top. Tomorrow will check it again and pump more fluid if needed while testing on a bench. Will keep yuj updated.
 

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So just finished the job and its back on the car. Seems to be working fine. I over filled it so I could drain it when on the car. Infact I draind about 10ml. Process was pretty fast from start to finish. Found my method to be quite effective to refill the VCU and only took a couple of pumps. Here are some photos of the vacum pump I used and grease nipples I modefied to re fill the VCU. Wider hole to allow the fluid to flow better and the other to auck the air out. Photos of the vcu installed on the car with new bearings. Also punched the month and year of refurbing for future reference.
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Charlot said:
So just finished the job and its back on the car. Seems to be working fine. I over filled it so I could drain it when on the car. Infact I draind about 10ml. Process was pretty fast from start to finish. Found my method to be quite effective to refill the VCU and only took a couple of pumps. Here are some photos of the vacum pump I used and grease nipples I modefied to re fill the VCU. Wider hole to allow the fluid to flow better and the other to auck the air out. Photos of the vcu installed on the car with new bearings. Also punched the month and year of refurbing for future reference. View attachment 261210 View attachment 261211 View attachment 261212 View attachment 261213 View attachment 261214 View attachment 261215
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Sorry I missed this earlier.
So how much fluid did you put into it in total?
Have you tried the one wheel up test since?
 
Alibro said:
Sorry I missed this earlier.
So how much fluid did you put into it in total?
Have you tried the one wheel up test since?
Click to expand...
Don't know exactly. Have it written somewhere in my garage as I kept it for record. Between 150ml or 160ml if not mistaken.

Have tried it on the bench in a vice like the video Austen had posted on youtube some time ago and also on the road in full lock reverse. And everyday driving feels much better.
 
Thank you very mutch Alibro i follow your instruction and my VCU is now brand new :D

I've didn't read every post and someone may have talk about that before but here is few tip that could help.
First of all i use a heatgun thats make the old fluid a lot easier to flow out
To fill in the new fluid i use two litle syringe 10ml that i stick into the holes with a gluegun to prevent any leakage

Put the silicon oil container into warm water , pouring it into the syringe with a funnel while heating it up with the heatgun.
When the syringe is full put the piston back in it. Do it fifteen times and here we are !

I also choose to weld two tinny screw in the holes because my tap wasn't hard enough ( These VCU are made in UK ? It is god damn quality steel ! )

The process takes me about 4h to fill in fluid refill the holes grinding the welds it and paint.
These no traces left , but i can't drain fluid.
 
landycrowford said:
Thank you very mutch Alibro i follow your instruction and my VCU is now brand new :D

I've didn't read every post and someone may have talk about that before but here is few tip that could help.
First of all i use a heatgun thats make the old fluid a lot easier to flow out
To fill in the new fluid i use two litle syringe 10ml that i stick into the holes with a gluegun to prevent any leakage

Put the silicon oil container into warm water , pouring it into the syringe with a funnel while heating it up with the heatgun.
When the syringe is full put the piston back in it. Do it fifteen times and here we are !

I also choose to weld two tinny screw in the holes because my tap wasn't hard enough ( These VCU are made in UK ? It is god damn quality steel ! )

The process takes me about 4h to fill in fluid refill the holes grinding the welds it and paint.
These no traces left , but i can't drain fluid.
Click to expand...
Some great tips here, well done for sorting yours.
How did you flush out the old fluid, did you use white spirit? I still think the best way to do it is to cut the top off, remove all the steel discs and clean them properly but that is 5 times the work and you need to be good at welding.
 
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Brake and clutch cleaner appears to be the solvent to break up the silicone.
It comes out coloured where as I have found white spirit does flush but not breakdown the silicone.
 
I use gazoline as it is the cheapest way, it work as well , just need to be carefull with the heatgun lol.
Cutting the top is the best way for sure but i was afraid to destroy the whole unit.
I think im done for a few years but i will buy a proper welding machine and get a little bit practice until the next time.
A good TIG machine is half the price of a new VCU xD
 
landycrowford said:
I use gazoline as it is the cheapest way, it work as well , just need to be carefull with the heatgun lol.
Cutting the top is the best way for sure but i was afraid to destroy the whole unit.
I think im done for a few years but i will buy a proper welding machine and get a little bit practice until the next time.
A good TIG machine is half the price of a new VCU xD
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I tried diesel, petrol and kerosene when cleaning the steel discs and they all were fairly similar to white spirit.

andyfreelandy said:
Brake and clutch cleaner appears to be the solvent to break up the silicone.
It comes out coloured where as I have found white spirit does flush but not breakdown the silicone.
Click to expand...
I might try that next time.
There are different types of brake clean so does that matter? I got some from Lidl a few months ago that smells like paint but strips grease like nothing I've seen before. Maybe it's raw paint thinners in a spray tin, I don't know but unfortunately I haven't seen it again since.
 
Brake cleaner won't leave behind such a toxic chemical on the internal of the vcu like white spirit does. White spirit would need cleaned out in theory.
 
Alibro said:
I tried diesel, petrol and kerosene when cleaning the steel discs and they all were fairly similar to white spirit.


I might try that next time.
There are different types of brake clean so does that matter? I got some from Lidl a few months ago that smells like paint but strips grease like nothing I've seen before. Maybe it's raw paint thinners in a spray tin, I don't know but unfortunately I haven't seen it again since.
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I have been opening my VCU and it took me forever to remove every disk because they were absolutely glued together. Lot of White Spirit but it would only work on the upper disk. I am finally at the bottom and starting the process to clean them all before putting them back. I was wondering how was the original method to fill it up with the two little balls to close it. Is anyone know how Land Rover did it? It is beyond my ability to comprehend .
 
Camcha said:
I have been opening my VCU and it took me forever to remove every disk because they were absolutely glued together. Lot of White Spirit but it would only work on the upper disk. I am finally at the bottom and starting the process to clean them all before putting them back. I was wondering how was the original method to fill it up with the two little balls to close it. Is anyone know how Land Rover did it? It is beyond my ability to comprehend .
Click to expand...
Probably using a lot of pressure.
I turned my VCU upside down and left it for an our or so and they all fell eventually out, took hours to clean them though using petrol and diesel.
How do you plan to refill it?
 
Well, based on all the literrature I compiled (a lot thanks to you btw), I was thinking two grease nipples, on opposite sides and also one on top the other one on the other surface. (I would unscrew the top one for the air to go out but I will have a better balance using the exact same weigh ). BUT, I'm not exactly sure how to put pressure in because grease gun comes with big special cartridge... I saw people using seringe but will it flow thru the whole thing (not much space for the silicon fluid to move inside because the disks are tight). Also I saw on YT some eastern europe guys putting the silicon fluid on each disks then weld it but it seems like the heat will damage it all, or maybe it would be fine for the first 30? I'm at that point now....
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I've done it several ways.
Welding after the fluid is put in doesn't work well as the fluid effects the welds. I really struggled doing it that way.
Injecting the fluid in with a grease gun might be possible but how do you measure the amount that has gone in? If you can do that it is probably the best way but you also need to rotate the VCU to mix the fluid through the disks. The fluid will always want to come out of the 2nd hole regardless of how you put it in so the high pressure from a grease gun isn't much help unless you drill holes at either end.
If you drill holes at either end the fluid will start draining out the bottom before you get the right amount in the top.
I found the best way was drill two holes at one end but be careful to allow for the the size of the bolt heads. Use a large syringe with a length of clear pipe, injecting it in slowly over several days while rotating to mix it through.
The holes need to be as large as possible so I used M16 grease nipples last time. I never used the nipples to inject but I can if I need to.
After you complete the rebuild and have it fitted be sure to do the one wheel up test after a few days to confirm it is not too tight. If it is you can drain some fluid to loosen it up.
The last one I did is a little too lose but the car does what I need so I don't mind.

Be sure to drill your holes BEFORE welding it up.
 
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Hello again, I have just a question regarding the placement of the greasing nipples. I noted that you recommend big ones M16 but I guessed that it would be best to put them at the same distance of the side than the original balls (it terms of liquid flowing inside), did you notice that there is a better placement? In the photo attached is my marked zone for later drilling (before welding ;) ).

Also I kind of forgot to make pictures of every disk position, do you have a tip to put them back on?

Thanks a lot!
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The VCU has a curve near the centre you need to stay away from or the hex part of the bolt/grease nipple will not seat properly. I think I drilled nearer the outside edge than the middle. The line you marked may be too close to the edge with an M16 hole but I guess it wouldn't matter if the drill touches the inner wall of the VCU.
As for the disks they have to go alternately and if I remember correctly the direction they face changes at the half way point but I don't suppose it matters much.
I figured if I used grease nipples opposite each other I wouldn't need four. I only ever used two and never had any vibration issues. They are pretty light so probably a similar weight to the metal that was drilled out.
 
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