Series 3 Just bought this, and may need some advice in the near future

It's a bit of a problem living in Spain. Spanish ebay is crap.

So, as yuou can see from this thread https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/enough-teeth-left-to-chew-with.295512/ not everything is completely without troubles. I'm thinking and rethinking what I should do about the gearbox.

Anyway, another thing is... I can't find anywhere to top up any oil's on the swivel housing. There just aren't any bolts on it to drain or refill.

Is it possible that the ball and the wheel bearings are getting oil fed from the front diff? I was under the impression that the swivel housing level was a little higher than the diff level.

If the bearings and the swivel are getting oil, then I'm happy enough.

Mine fill via a square plug on the rear facing edge / side of the swivel - can be seen when looking from behind each from wheel. I doubt it would get oil from the diff as there is a seal at the end of the axle tubes. It's possible yours maybe a different design I suppose....Santana isn't it?

Have any photo's?

Ahhh. Found the filler plugs, thanks to your description of location. It was caked in hard mud, and not really in the place I was expecting to find it.

Thanks again

I've just taken one of the plugs out, and it's full of grease. Just looks like any old type of axle grease. Bugger.

that's given me an idea.... instead of spending a lot for a drop down tail door i might cut my safari one in half and move the top hinge down would be much cheaper! anyone done this before if so what did you dress the top of the door with?

a few people have done it afaik, there is an old thread on here somewhere but the pictures aren't there any more

Might be the one shot grease - tends to be black / grey in colour, thick and gloppy when cold (although still quite fluid) but goes thin when hot.

The small drain plug can be found at bottom of each swivel. Give it a good fast run to get grease hot and then immediately drain. Should be runny enough when hot to dribble out. You can then fill with EP90 if you prefer.

Cheers LR. It's definitely not one shot grease; it's an orangy-brown colour, like any standard grease. It's not in the least bit runny, even when warm after a run. I think I'd have to light a fire under it to get it out hehe

It might come down to taking the whole bloody assembly to pieces to clean it out and replace it. Not looking forward to that being the only option in the slightest...

As long as the orangy brown isn't a mixture of water, grease and corrosion!

To avoid strip down, could consider filling as much as possible with ep90 oil, give it a run to mix it with the grease and see if it will then drain before it cools.

Get a pint of petrol in it ye wuss.

Land Raver said:

As long as the orangy brown isn't a mixture of water, grease and corrosion!

To avoid strip down, could consider filling as much as possible with ep90 oil, give it a run to mix it with the grease and see if it will then drain before it cools.

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Good advice, thanks. I'll do just that with one of the sides (see below), and let you know how it goes. Cheers LR

Bobsticle said:

Get a pint of petrol in it ye wuss.

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Good advice, thanks. I'll do just that with the other side and make you drink the result with an orujo chaser next time you're in Lugo

They do not heat up that much in my opinion , you might be better off heating it externally with a hot air fan heater or similar with drain plug out it should start running out.

Cheers @Blackburn. I think I'm going to try a bit of both. I'll top them up with ep90 (or the 80/90 I've got kicking around) because it can't really do any harm I suppose and give it a run, maybe with the brakes adjusted up a notch, for a bit of extra warmth in the general area, and if it doesn't gloop out after that I'll get some more direct heat on them and see if that works.

I'll come clean. I haven't had the opportunity to do what I said I was going to do in the above post. I chucked a bit of ep90 in there because I was a bit worried about the wheel bearings not getting any lubrication.

However, I noticed today that, after only a few miles, the front left wheel was quite hot. Another couple of miles and it was worryingly hot, to the point where even the crap weather here in Galicia wasn't wetting the rim. It was steaming.

I have since heard a bit of a whirring on right hand bends. Does this mean the bearings are firkled?

Post script: I'd also like to mention that anybody who read this thread - https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/are-these-glow-plugs-too-cheap.295972/ ... may be interested to know that @Bobsticle is a superfine gentleman, who came through with his promise; sending me 3 glow plugs, via his gorgeous cousin in Marbella. A finer act of generosity hasn't befallen me in years.

solvista said:

View attachment 93818

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Changed a bit. Looks nice enough in this photo. Still a long way to go though.

very nice