My Defender had been standing for many months without being driven. Eventually I got it to a LR mechanic and asked for a full check and service. I have security wheel nuts on all wheels, so left with the mechanic the special removal tool. I’d assumed that for a full service, the wheels would need to be removed in order for the condition of the brakes to be checked. (The brake fluid was also supposed to be changed, using the fluid that I’d bought some time ago and that I’d left in the vehicle.)
[FONT=Calibri
]The check and service is complete, I’m told. When I asked for the return of the wheel-nut removal tool, the mechanic said he hadn’t got it. He hadn’t taken the wheels off, he said, so hadn’t needed it. This seemed a bit odd, as I thought wheels had to come off in order to check the brakes. (About brake-fluid change, I don’t know. Can someone please tell me whether brake-fluid is changed with the wheels still on?) Later in the conversation the mechanic said that in fact he’d had to take one wheel off in order to gain access to something but said he had a tool of his own, so hadn’t needed mine (which, anyway, he doesn’t have, he said).[/FONT]

This man repairs and services only Land Rovers and though I haven’t used the workshop before, I had reason to believe he does a good job. What do you think about this situation?

Yes you can change the fluid without removing the wheels.

However, he can't tell the condition of either your discs or pads without, so he won't know if they are worn or warped.

Did you order a full service, including changing all the oils?

oldseadog said:

yes you can change the fluid without removing the wheels.

However, he can't tell the condition of either your discs or pads without, so he won't know if they are worn or warped.

Did you order a full service, including changing all the oils?

Click to expand...

+1

I ordered a full service, including changing all the oils.

I asked these questions, obviously, because I didn't know the answers, and so I, myself, cannot disagree with any answers that forum members are kind enough to give me. That said, I was told by another source that the front brakes, if they're discs, can be fully checked without removing the wheels. The rear brakes, similarly. If the rear brakes are drum-brakes, however, the wheels must be removed in order for a full check to be performed.

My LR is a 2005 Td5 110 CSW, and this model has four disc brakes, I believe.

You don't need to remove the wheels to check the brake performance using a decelerometer though. He could have done this and if the performance was within the limits then assumed no further inspection was needed.

Did you ask what a "full check and service" would involve? Did you specify anything in particular you were concerned about? Did you say you wanted the brakes stripped and inspected? One person's assumption can be different to another's.