Sleepless in Seattle....30/3/2014 Can you guess where we are? A few days of maintenance on the car but some problems along the way. New stem seals to sort the blue smoke in the morning and then swivel ball adjustment that turned in to a full hub rebuild. The top swivel pin came apart on the second shim removal. Why are the top pins so tight? Even the new on I had on the roof is super tight. On the bottom pin there's a nice flat inside the swivel ball so the bearing pulls off square. On the top pin there is no flat so when you pull the pin the bearing comes off cocked....or at least it tries to and because its so tight the bearing get jammed and then the bearing cage falls to pieces. So my 1 hour job became all day ! So we now have new bearings in the swivel and a new swivel seal and new one shot grease in there. The hubs been greased and it should be good for another adventure. The brake caliper pistons have been cleaned and although the pads are low I've not changed them as there is still 4mm left. Trouble is this is one side. I still need to do the other ! The stem seal change although difficult was trouble free and I got quicker with each one. Still took a long time to do. I've had too full days in the workshop thanks to Brian at Defenders NorthWest and I shattered. We went out for some Mexican food with Brian and some friends and I don't think I talked too much,,,,,maybe I did ? Checked Brake pads, Check Clutch Fluid, Check Steering Fluid, Change Engine Oil, Check Wheel Bearings, Grease Props, Grease A Frame Ball, Grease Steering Arms, Check Swivel Pre Loads, Check Timing Belt, Check Timing, Replace Stem Seals, Check Tappet Clearances, Clean Cyclone Breather, Clean Intercooler, Clean Turbo Pipes, Check Turbo Impeller for Play and checked the glow plug relay. All the glow plugs are faulty. Still need to do other side for swivel pre load and replace gearbox and transfer box oils and then fit the new glow plugs....We're then ready for Canada....and the next 6000 miles. We managed to get some MTF94 for the gearbox so I'm really happy about that. Its the fist time we've got it since Namibia. Having trouble finding plain old EP80/90 with no fancy limited slip additives so we might have to settle for some limited slip oils and I'm not happy. The manufacturer says its OK but its just not the correct stuff. Why add it to ALL EP80/90 in the USA ??? WHY !!!!!???? Its amazing how much maintenance we do on a car with no faults.....some niggles but nothing broken, nothing worn out. I hope i'm not speaking too soon. That might be why shes in good order. |
