Simple oil change goes tits-up, help please...

Hi all,

i finally got round to getting the last of the oils for my disco 1 service, i thought i'd just go out and drain the main and transfer box oils...

Turns out they fitted a torx screw in the main box filler plug - anyone know what size that would be, my set only goes to T50 and thats too small???

Then to really **** me off, the drain plug in the transfer box goes and shears off mid-way So now i have a dripping drain plug and no way of shifting it.

Looking at the top of the sheared off plug it looks like it was hollow and the drilling is so close to the threads that a bit of over-tightening likely stretched it too far. So i have a bit of plug still to come out but not sure of a good way to shift it.

My first choice would be to drill in and try a stud extractor but is it a magnet or something?? if so i could maybe punch it in then use the extractor on the shell remaining. But then i have to get the magnet out of the box

Any thoughts???

Dave

had a similar problem with my transfer plug. the bit in the middle is a magnet, and if tapped carefully it will go into the box, without breaking. the remains of the plug will then tap out with a small screwdriver far enough to grab it with some needle nose pliers and extract it.

have a drain pan under it though, as soon as the centre pops out so will the oil.

to get the magnet out you will need to remove the cover, which is no big deal really, just some bolts and a tube of sealant

Great, thats exactly what i was planning on doing, i have a plug and gasket coming but wont get to drive her until next week now

Simple jobs eh:doh:

The hole for the magnet is way too big and has left no metal for the plug

Ok, update....

Took the filler plug out and to my dismay out flowed at least a pint maybe more of oil Now, this was a common fault on the series3 where the oil seal allowed oil to flow from main box to transfer box, no real biggie as they used the same oil but still a PITA.

The magnet punched in nicely and the rest of the oil drained out. While draining i slacked off the cover plate bolts and then removed that, only to see that where the magnet ended up is a dirty great big gear Wiping off the cold sweat that had just broken out, i fiddled about with various tools and managed to get it out the rest of the drain plug then came out easily and all went back together smoothly, no bottom gasket was needed just silicone seal.

The transfer was filled with EP80 as listed. The main box went more smoothly, the drain magnet had a fair bit of swarf on it so i'm guessing had not been drained for some time Filled up with ATF D2 as listed.

The result - brilliant gear changes are much smoother and easier now with less baulking changing down. The oil that came out of the main box was not pink at all so i'm guessing it wasn't ATF:doh:

So apart from the odd oil level in the transfer box, i think its an excellent result. The high level was possibly why there was so much leaking out from the prop flange area???

dave,
your not the only one that " a simple service " doesn't go to plan,

the weekend my brother(300tdi L reg) ,my son and i (300tdi L reg), both manuals, decided to service both discos,

we went to our local land rover supplier (craddocks at cannock), purchased the service kit £9.99 which we thought was a bargain. Already purchased the oils we needed coulple of weeks before.

the " plan " was my brother and son drain oils, change oil filters and grease every thing underneath, so far so good
my part was "the simple " jobs as since work injury i'm no longer able to get under them any more. so my jobs were change fuel filters, air filters and check all fluids and top up as needed, then fill oil on both engines.

everything was going great guns, my brother and son changed all gear box oils and filters,transfer box oils, and changed axel oils and greased all the nipples on my brothers disco, then on mine my brother noticed the front propshaft was really worn and loose at the uj joint....... told me not to use it and purchase a new front propshaft....

at this point things started to take a turn for the worse.....

i changed air filters, fuel filters,toped up fluids as needed,
toped up engine oils... thought i'd done well.......

......... story deepens .........

when i purchased my disco about 6 weeks ago i purchased it with nearly full mot & 3 months tax ...£450......
i knew there we few problems but for the money nothing my brother couldn't sort for me.
to cut this story short someone had put a normal bolt in the bleed pipple on the fuel filter, me being me purchased a new bleed nipple fitted it and thought great another silly little job crossed off my list of 1001 other silly little bits.

getting back to " the service " all went well until started engines.....
my brothers car .. all ok great no problems.

my car started all seemed ok no problems other than the front propshatf which i'd already found a new replacement. just got to pick it up lated that evening.

then all of a sudden fuel started dripping like mad form the bleed screw.....
tried tightening as i thought i'd not tightened properly....
stoped engine and then my brother and i started to try to sort ....
the problem was someone had rounded the thred.
my brother re tapped and put in a bigger bolt in... problem sorted.

so at this time both disco's serviced, but i've jut got to wait for my brother to fit the new front propshatf. hopefully the weekend.

so all simple jobs that everyone things will be easy can all take a turn for the worse.
but as all land rover owners will agree this is part of the joys of ownership....

so as my list of 1001 silly little jobs get worked on who knows which other jobs will rear the ugly head to increase the list further.

keep tinkering and enjoy being a land rover owner what other vehicle brings as much joy?