"Propshaft splines - Check/lubricate" - does this just mean grease the nipple on the prop shaft? Obviously i'll grease it anyway and also grease the UJs, but what else should I check here? check that the nipple is allowing grease thru it - it is common for it to be solid - remove and check:(

"Front brake discs" and "Rear brake discs" - what is the minimum thickness for standard discs? I do have ABS if that is relevant and yes - i have searched and there's all sorts of answers! Rave has the answers

"Battery terminals - Clean/re-grease" - re-grease with what? Coppaslip

"Anti-freeze strength" - Any way to test this without borrowing a garage's test equipment? yes - an antifreeze tester - about a squid from Halfords or similar

"Vehicle locks - Check/lubricate" - does this just mean squirt some WD40 in through the keyhole? no - graphite powder
 
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Come on now, the battery terminal question is just silly, the answer is grease. Nothing special, it's not a critical joint, just use any grease. Obvious that one.

well, you say that, but now people have said things like Vaseline, copper slip and even not to use normal grease! I don't suppose it matters really, but either Vaseline or copper slip it is.

Anyway...

"Propshaft splines - Check/lubricate" - I will remove the grease nipple and check that it's allowing grease through. Presumably it just unscrews... and i will just regrease it and do nothing else to it.

"Anti-freeze strength" - I'll go buy a tester in that case. I do doubt they they are 100 pence or less though... but it shouldn't be that much more!

"Vehicle locks - Check/lubricate" - can I buy graphite powder from halfords? Never seen it for sale anywhere, but never looked either.

"Front brake discs" and "Rear brake discs" - i've just looked in Rave for the minimum thickness for standard discs, but I cannot find anything about discs! It talks about calipers, servo, master cylinder, ABS, pipework, pads and everything else, but discs aren't mentioned in the Brakes section (section 70) at all! Section 54 talks about how to replace discs, but doesn't mention minimum thickness. Any ideas?

Finally... still need an answer to the ABS one yet... :)

"ABS warning system - Check/report" - does this just mean "check that the warning light comes on with the ignition and goes off again when you pull away"?
 
It is all common sense and very easy to do.

Graphite powder is here Graphite Powder Lock Lubricant Padlock Cylinder Car | eBay

Tester here Halfords | Halfords Anti Freeze Tester

Push a needle into the grease nipple to make sure it opens and closes then ram a grease gun on it and pump away until it gushes out all the joints.

Why change your brakes when there is still meat on the pads? I use mine down to the first sign of rubbing.

ABS is just what you've said. If you don't have any unusual lights or noises coming from it, it will be fine.

Simple really isn't it. Doesn't really need a 2 million word dissertation to do it for christ sake.
 
i've only written 4 or 5 posts about the service (maybe...)... but the rest of this thread covers swivel ball replacement, the hell I had with a garage, doughnut replacement, sticky caliper, wheel bearing replacement and every single other minor issue i've had with it since the very first day I ever put a spanner to a car!

Anyway... thanks for the links! :)

As for the brakes... i'm not changing them. I know the pads are good, but I'm trying to find the minimum thickness for the discs so I can work out if they need changing or not.
 
If there is a raised lip around the edge that should be the origional thickness, inspect how deep the lip is. Just a fraction, less than a millimetre, don't worry, a couple of mm, think about new discs. If the discs are flat all the way across and look like new with no grooves don't worry.
Pads need changing when they are down to about 1 or 2 mm to avoid damaging the discs by only changing them when you hear grinding.
They are cheap and easy enough to change so keep an eye on them.
 
i think your hardest thing with doing it this way is the number of opinions,disc minimum thickness is 13mm front 12mm rear but normally your looking for rust on rears and scoring on both as this usualy occours first,especially on inner side removing mudshield helps,as it hinders rather than helps
 
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.
I thought it was GL4 in transfer box ? GL5 eats bushes faster than Jessie J at a pajama party :D
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.
I thought it was GL4 in transfer box ? GL5 eats bushes faster than Jessie J at a pajama party :D
 
I thought it was GL4 in transfer box ? GL5 eats bushes faster than Jessie J at a pajama party :D

according to RAVE, the "Transfer box LT230T" can take:

API GL4 or GL5
MIL - L - 2105 or
MIL - L - 2105B
C or D

I assume I have an "LT230T" transfer box and i've no idea what those other numbers mean...

Anyway, RAVE seems to suggest that GL4 or 5 is fine with a viscosity of 90EP or 80EP depending on temperature. See page 58 - http://www.landroverresource.com/docs/D1_Workshop_Manual.pdf
 
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ethylene glycol is normally bluein colour, and generally speakjing (i think) the older stuff for older engines.

your car will be quite happy with ethylene glycol. maybe these new pink coolant are meth based?

youre gonna have to research further, i cba :D
 
been digging into this... lots of discussions on the web about antifreeze and the types, colours etc... but kinda hard to find an answer.

Wikipedia says:

Methanol is not popular for machinery, but may be found in automotive windshield washer fluid, de-icers, and gasoline additives.

Ethylene glycol is used today for a variety of applications, including automobiles.

which gives us a clue. I suspect I therefore have Ethylene Glycol (which is good because that's what my tester will test).

However, many discussions on the web talk about both and which is the best one to use!

None of them actually mention how to tell which one you already have in your car!

Oh, and i'm sure my car will be happy on ethylene glycol, but I don't intend to replace it - just check it's anti-freeze level and leave it well alone hopefully.
 
well, it does matter... the tester i've bought from halfords *WILL* work with ethylene glycol, but will *NOT* work with methanol.

So, if I have methanol, the reading will be all wrong, and my rad could freeze over winter, so i do kinda need to know... :)
 
I forgot to mention that it's very likely you have ethylene glycol.

Just pop to Halfords and check. They do two types: blue for old engines, pink for new.

If the pink one is methanol then it kinda clears it up in my book, cos any blue colour coolant is the old gear, whereas green, red or pink is the new gear.

Although it is actually the corrosion inhibitors that are more important in coolant than the actual anti freeze characteristic, so it could be that both blue and pink are ethylene glycol, and they are different corrosion inhibitor types.

Cheers
 
Hi guys,

An easy way to see if your antifreeze is up to the
test of winter is remove a small amount with a syringe,
put it in a bottle and place it in the freezer over night.

If its still liquid in the morning then your good, if
its a block of ice, then change it.

Simples...

Kev.
 
right... well i tested it with the Halfords tester this morning before setting off for work.

it's a green colour and all three plastic "floaters" went right to the top. This either means my ethylene glycol anti-freeze is absolutely fine, or I have methanol and that's what methanol does to the tester!

scubasteve1974 - very good point. i might try that as well, but i'd still quite like to know which one I have in my vehicle :)
 

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