Well I wrapped up the 60k service on my Disco II last night around 6:00. It's a 2000 with 57,300 miles. Go ahead and laugh, but it took me and a friend about 10 hours to do the whole thing. This friend of mine is a shade tree mechanic who is known for automatic transmission work. I know absolutely nothing. Anyway, he's got general mechanic knowledge and a good shop so I offered to pay him to help me do the 60k.
Out of the 10 hours - I think we spent 5 (yes, seriously) on the plugs & wires. The plugs were no problem but the wires were terrible. We tried removing the intake manifold, but got too frustrated/intimidated and decided to leave it in place and work around it. It was a long frustrating morning.
After a couple hours of trying to get at the plug wires, we decided to skip this step - I would take it to a shop for the wires. Things went great until the very last spark plug wire broke off. At that point, we had to replace one wire and we figured if we can get one, we can get eight. Next time I need to replace the wires - I'm paying a pro shop to do it for me. Just my $.02.
Pretty much everything else went great. We had the truck on a two post lift and had zero problems with it. This access made the fluid changes a breeze, doing this with the truck on the ground would definitely add an unwanted layer of difficulty. My diff fluids looked perfect, transmission fluid was great, very very few shavings at the magnets. My friend drained the transfer case fluid when I wasn't looking and mentioned it looked a bit milky. I might replace that again in a few months to have another look.
One thing that bothered me a little was the condition of the oil. After draining it completely, I poured in about 1/2 quart to try and "push" some more of the bad stuff out. There was still a lot of tiny particles that I could see - basically more dirty oil. I really wish I had put some cheap dino oil in (instead of $$$ synthetic), ran it for a few days then changed it again. I might still do that.
For your info, here's how my parts broke down:
Havoline Dex Cool
Royal Purple 75w90 gear oil
Royal Purple 10-40w motor oil
Castroil DOT 4 brake fluid $146
ATF Fluid $23
ATF Filter kit $60
Plug Wires $80
Air Filter $14
Oil Filter $10
Spark Plugs $20
Labor $300
Benefits $25 (beer, burritos)
Total $678
This was definitely a money save for me vs.. taking it to an indie shop or (heaven forbid) the dealer. But more importantly it was a great learning experience. There is no way I could have done all the work by myself.
As I said, you guys laugh all you want, but I learned a lot. Namely: I'd like to strangle whoever designed the plug wires with my bruised, deformed hands.
Meisterbr?wn signing off.
Out of the 10 hours - I think we spent 5 (yes, seriously) on the plugs & wires. The plugs were no problem but the wires were terrible. We tried removing the intake manifold, but got too frustrated/intimidated and decided to leave it in place and work around it. It was a long frustrating morning.
After a couple hours of trying to get at the plug wires, we decided to skip this step - I would take it to a shop for the wires. Things went great until the very last spark plug wire broke off. At that point, we had to replace one wire and we figured if we can get one, we can get eight. Next time I need to replace the wires - I'm paying a pro shop to do it for me. Just my $.02.
Pretty much everything else went great. We had the truck on a two post lift and had zero problems with it. This access made the fluid changes a breeze, doing this with the truck on the ground would definitely add an unwanted layer of difficulty. My diff fluids looked perfect, transmission fluid was great, very very few shavings at the magnets. My friend drained the transfer case fluid when I wasn't looking and mentioned it looked a bit milky. I might replace that again in a few months to have another look.
One thing that bothered me a little was the condition of the oil. After draining it completely, I poured in about 1/2 quart to try and "push" some more of the bad stuff out. There was still a lot of tiny particles that I could see - basically more dirty oil. I really wish I had put some cheap dino oil in (instead of $$$ synthetic), ran it for a few days then changed it again. I might still do that.
For your info, here's how my parts broke down:
Havoline Dex Cool
Royal Purple 75w90 gear oil
Royal Purple 10-40w motor oil
Castroil DOT 4 brake fluid $146
ATF Fluid $23
ATF Filter kit $60
Plug Wires $80
Air Filter $14
Oil Filter $10
Spark Plugs $20
Labor $300
Benefits $25 (beer, burritos)
Total $678
This was definitely a money save for me vs.. taking it to an indie shop or (heaven forbid) the dealer. But more importantly it was a great learning experience. There is no way I could have done all the work by myself.
As I said, you guys laugh all you want, but I learned a lot. Namely: I'd like to strangle whoever designed the plug wires with my bruised, deformed hands.
Meisterbr?wn signing off.
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