Changing Fluids in a 96 Disco

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Author Message   Garrett #2 Posted on Wednesday, October 09, 2002 - 02:34 pm:    WHat fluids should I change in my Disco if I don't know the last time they were changed? I have changed the oil but none of the other fluids since I bought it. It has 81K. Thanks   Paul T. Schram (Paulschram) Posted on Wednesday, October 09, 2002 - 02:39 pm:    Swivel Balls, if nothing else, change the oil in the swivel balls. I will suggest 90 wt, but many will say the grease is the way to go. If you have the inclination, you might consider both diffs and the ••••••. 90 wt in the diffs and dexron in the Transmission. D'Oh, don't forget the coolant, your radiator will appreciate it. Paul   Garrett #2 Posted on Wednesday, October 09, 2002 - 04:10 pm:    1) What is better.....Oil in the swivel balls or grease? What is the difference? 2)What is the right way to change the oil in the swivel balls or where can I read how to? 3)What is the right way to change the fluid in the diffs or where can I read how to? 4)What brand fluids should I use and can I get them at the local auto parts store? 5)What is the right way to change the coolant and what mixture should I use when refilling? Sorry so many questions but I want my Rover to stay happy with me!! Thanks   edward petrush (Exp3) Posted on Wednesday, October 09, 2002 - 06:50 pm:    1) oil or grease is choice.. if you are going to do any water crossing the grease will not be displaced as easily as the oil will be. Also the grease is much thicker and new 90wt oil might cause the seals to leak much easier than the grease. 2)swivel balls are very easy to change just check out the archives here.. basically there are 3 bolts (fill, level & drain plugs) 3) Diffs are very easy too.. (again check archives) but there are just 2 plugs on both diffs (drain & fill) 4) fluid is easy.. once you drain, i'd go with sythetic 90w oil.. it will last 4 times longer than normal... (I would pay a trans mission shop to "flush" your tranmission and replace your transfer case fluid (the trans case is pretty hard to fill, the fill plug is hard to get to) 5) coolant is easy too.. just buy some rad flush.. read directions and jump in.. while you are doing the radiator work.. i would also think about doing thermostat, upper and lower radiator hoses and if you are feeling very ambitious.. the water pump.. if it has not been done before..   Paul T. Schram (Paulschram) Posted on Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 10:38 am:    Garret: Edward is right on, but you might want a little more help. When changing the swivel ball fluids, turn the wheel away from the side you're working on. This allows you to use the full opening to add the fluid. Otherwise, the swivel ball obscures part of the port. Draining is a PITA as you really can't get a pan beneath to catch the oil as it comes out. To check the level, I use a pipe cleaner! Same for the diffs. I suggest the oil as I off-road and like to change my fluids monthly-but, I drive many miles each day. Also, with respect to the oil/grease issue, the grease may not be as easily displaced, but if (when)I do get water in my swivels, I want to be able to drain them-the oil will, the grease might! I am not a fan of the synthetics for many reasons, but mainly, cost, again, I change my oil about every three-four weeks and it would get prohibitively expensive for me. I buy my oils in bulk-for me and for the shop. Call around to the oil suppliers in your area. Chances are you can buy lubricants in five-gallon pails for much less than at your local parts house. You can often find inexpensive lubricants at tractor shops. Many say these lubes aren't good enough, but they meet the same API/SAE specs and let's think about this-would I use junk oil in my half-million dollar tractor that I need to make my living? As for the transmission, if you do not wish to pay someone to flush your •••••• and you don't wish to use the synthetics, merely drain and refill every weekend for three weekends. You will have displaced all of the fuild in that period of time with new.   scubaman99 Posted on Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 01:13 pm:    how well or not well does the transmition flush at "oil changers" work... they claim to have this machine that "looks cool" that is supposed to "flush your transimition fluid" by hooking it up to this machine. is this "smoke and mirrors" or do these things really work?   Paul T. Schram (Paulschram) Posted on Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 01:46 pm:    I have no experience with these machines of which you speak. when I made my comment about changing transmission fluid, I was using my chemistry background and relating it to dilution of a contaminated solution. If one is able to remove a portion of at least 50% of the total, three iterations should reduce the concentration of any contaminants to a level below which that which will cause harm. Any further dilutions probably approach a point of decreasing marginal returns. While I accept the fact that it is nearly impossible to remove all of the contaminated fluid from an automatic transmission (or any other machine for that matter), I can remove enough of it to have sufficient improvement to satisfy me. If I were patient enough, I suppose I could dump my •••••• fluid each weekend and be confident that the concentration of deleterious contaminants would be maintained below a dangerous level, however, at this point, economics begins to be an issue. If one were using the flushing machine to remove the dino fluid to replace with synthetic, I don't think it would do the job, unless one were to constantly reduce the concentration of dino in the recirculating fluid, replacing it with synthetic.   perroneford Posted on Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 02:17 pm:    Paul, This is exactly what those machines do. They have a large supply of either vendor or user supplied oil, and then they hook up to the supply and return lines on your truck. You start your truck and the old transmission oil flows out, and the new stuff flows in. So you get the equivalent of 3-4 tramsmission oil changes all at once. Pretty slick setup. I've seen it done but not done it on my truck yet. Probably do it in a few weeks. -P   Garrett #2 Posted on Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 02:51 pm:    Thanks Paul!! I will try all of this ASAP.