lightning

Well-Known Member
How do you get it into the swivels?

I took off the filling plug (l don't seem to have a drain plug?) And it's a large plug, you squirt the grease in but straightaway it just overflows.
As the filling plug is designed for oil not grease.

Is there another bolt l can remove and then poke the nozzle of the grease container in to make a seal?
 
put swivel in full lock if your doing drivers side its full rh lock, if you dont your just pushing the grease against the chrome ball
 
Which way did you turn the steering? turn it so that the chalice is out of the way. then turn opposite way for other side.

Plus it helps if you put the grease packet in hot water, although if it is hot like this may not make so much of a difference.

Cheers
 
Thanks for the replies.

The steering was straight, which is obviously why the grease would not go in.

I put my finger in the fill hole and could feel the chrome ball, but never thought to turn the steering to full lock!
 
Just don't stick your fingers in the hole when full lock is applied just in case someone moves the steering wheel ;)
 
Just thinking back to when I did the one shot on my first disco.. I guess I never actually got any In the hole then haha
 
How do you get it into the swivels?

I took off the filling plug (l don't seem to have a drain plug?) And it's a large plug, you squirt the grease in but straightaway it just overflows.
As the filling plug is designed for oil not grease.

Is there another bolt l can remove and then poke the nozzle of the grease container in to make a seal?

Also, when you are done it's a good idea to add a splash of EP90 - the grease is good, but it's fails to splash lubricate the top bearing.
 
Also, when you are done it's a good idea to add a splash of EP90 - the grease is good, but it's fails to splash lubricate the top bearing.

Lots of people say that and Ive yet to see any real firm evidence, especially (Iirc) as the op has a td5 defender which would have had the grease from new.
I even use it in my 1959 series 2 as do lots of other series owners, always plenty of grease everywhere when its tear down time.
Also worth noting the grease does not fill the housing to the level plug as the oil does, so dont take the level or lack of as evidence theres no grease present.
 
Lots of people say that and Ive yet to see any real firm evidence, especially (Iirc) as the op has a td5 defender which would have had the grease from new.
I even use it in my 1959 series 2 as do lots of other series owners, always plenty of grease everywhere when its tear down time.
Also worth noting the grease does not fill the housing to the level plug as the oil does, so dont take the level or lack of as evidence theres no grease present.

The grease is probably fine, but I am a firm believer that, as I said, it's a good idea...

You are going to struggle to see real firm evidence in real world application unless you take 20 test vehicles that are used in the same way and run them for 50,000miles 10 with oil 10 without etc. I also like the little bit of oil in there to give me a clue when things are wearing. If the swivels on my axle start to look a little oily then I will know that something is worn or the seal is failing.
 
Also helps to put the one shot in some warm water, makes it flow better into the hole. Can you actually drain the swivels?
 
Also helps to put the one shot in some warm water, makes it flow better into the hole. Can you actually drain the swivels?

Yes there is a plug at the bottom on the earlier ones, not on the later ones. It annoys me they got rid of it, because it means if you suspect there is water in there you cannot easily just undo the drain plug and let it out... you need to undo a lower swivel pin bolt instead.
 
Yup, no drain plugs on my TD5 either. You've got to take the stub axle off and scoop it out and wipe it out with paper towels. Or that's what I did anyway.
 
Same, then topped up with a little EP90. Out of interest is it possible to overload them with grease?
 
It's the sort of situation where, if you were to absolutely pack the swivel housing, you might get some viscous drag and heating, and there'd be no room for expansion. But it's probably fairly tolerant of minor variations. Where one shot is concerned, I've had sachets with different capacities (by a few cl) than the plastic bottles for example. Plus when you put it in, it doesn't matter whether it's completely new and dry or there's a bit of grease there already from the previous load.
 
Same, then topped up with a little EP90. Out of interest is it possible to overload them with grease?

No. Not really, if you set about it and absolutely crammed it full, no air pockets etc. apart from the fact the drag would be excessive but it may blow the seals because when your road wheels steered the movement in some instances could act like a piston in a cylinder, and the easiest route out may be a seal.

Just a good dose of good grease. I sometimes go a bit over the top and use Molyslip - expensive but it's anti-wear characteristics are amazing. Sometime when I can be bothered typing it all out I will tell the story about the guy who molyed his engine and ran it with no oil to try and kill it.
 
The grease is probably fine, but I am a firm believer that, as I said, it's a good idea...

You are going to struggle to see real firm evidence in real world application unless you take 20 test vehicles that are used in the same way and run them for 50,000miles 10 with oil 10 without etc. I also like the little bit of oil in there to give me a clue when things are wearing. If the swivels on my axle start to look a little oily then I will know that something is worn or the seal is failing.


Quite a few people on the s2 forum who have driven for a decade or two using the grease in their swivels.
 
Quite a few people on the s2 forum who have driven for a decade or two using the grease in their swivels.

That is not evidence that the grease on it's own is as good as grease & a splash of EP90, that is just a fact that you and other S2 owners have ran with grease only in their swivels for a decade or two. There is no evidence here on a set of like vehicles, driven in similar circumstances that either way is better or worse and it would be difficult to prove.

I've never said that the grease doesn't work, I said originally 'Also, when you are done it's a good idea to add a splash of EP90 - the grease is good, but it's fails to splash lubricate the top bearing.' you called it out and I said 'The grease is probably fine, but I am a firm believer that, as I said, it's a good idea... '.

Do you put a smear of engine oil on oil filter O-rings or spin on fuel filters before you fit them, do you copper slip nuts and bolts, on a can type oil filter do you pour some oil into it before fitting it? This type of list goes on, but none of the aforementioned steps are critical to the task however they are all a good idea and if something is a good idea it's usually worth doing.

I've run grease with a splash of oil in my Defender swivels for about a decade now and have had no issues, I ran only EP90 in my 300tdi Disco for 146,000 miles and never had to change the swivel bearings, CV's etc. It's going to be a hard one to prove one way or another when a third argument is that EP90 does a perfectly good job itself.

All I am saying is, I believe, as do many others, it's a good idea to add a splash of EP90 in on top of the grease.
 

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