I mentioned a post or two ago that I thought I’d heard the tell-tale clicking of a CV joint when I made a turn out of the drive-way. I am pretty sure I don’t have a failing CV so it had to be time to add some more lubricant.
The CV is a funny item. It take tremendous pressure and transfers it to the hub which turns the tires. The fluid is kept in its place by a rubber pressure fitting seal there at the edge of the silver swivel ball. Slowly over time the grease slips past and needs replacement.
I first thought I’d check the state of the grease and decided to attempt to drain it. I first loosened the fill plug. It doesn’t help to drain it if you can’t refill it. Then I loosened drain plug. The drain plug is probably an 11mm plug. I don’t have an 11mm wrench so I carefully removed it with a 12mm.
The hole is really too close to the other parts in that area and will not drain in to the receptacle you place there. I started catching some of the fluid and it looked terrible. I guessing I have lost the axle seal and am getting contaminated fluid from the differential in the housing.
In any event, you can see that the fluid is quite terrible. I allow a bit to drain but as I was not sure how much was in there to start with I stopped draining and went to adding.
The parts suppliers have handy one-shot tubes of the grease ready to go. Just snip and add. I had sourced these at the same time as I did my springs and shocks.
The one trick I have found to putting this fluid in is to spin the wheels facing extreme outboard. So when you are filling the right side, spin the wheel to hard right. And reverse for the left. This opens up the innards and allows for the grease to easily slide into the hole.
Snip the end and roll from the far end to the open end as you hold the tube in place. Its a good idea to remove as much debris as you can from the opening area before loosing the fill plugs. It will minimize the dirt getting in while filling.
Do both sides and you have happy CV joints bathing in fresh grease.
I also thought I’d check the differentials while I was under there. So I drained them and filled them with fresh Castrol Hypoy C 85w140 gear oil. It takes two quarts to fill the differential. I had just enough to get one filled, but had to source more.
I ran down to O’reilly Auto Parts and got three more quarts. I always have this fluid on hand. You never know when you’ll need it.
The worst part of putting this fluid in the differentials is the odd angle and getting the fluid in the hole. I would recommend a pump as such. It is a terribly slow way to add fluid but it is virtually the only way not to make a giant mess of it.
That’s not my picture I borrowed it from the site. I got the gear oil added and took her out for a spin. You can really tell a difference. Well, I could anyway.
The condition of the differential oil confirmed my theory that I have at least one bad driveshaft seal on the front. The condition of the fluid coming out was terrible. This is a necessary maintenance item on any tick sheet.
Taking care of your drive shafts is synonymous with taking good care of your feet. If you can’t walk on your feet you can’t get anywhere. So take care of them and take care of your axle as well.
Transmission
I have been talking about the transmission needing a rebuild for quite some time. I think I will be getting that done in the next couple of weeks. I might be parting with the Honda Civic and the Range Rover will become my daily driver again. The current transmission has 196,000 miles on her and is need of some TLC.
She tends to slip when pulling loads and climbing hills after she is warmed up. I’m certain some of my gas mileage is being lost on this inefficiency and if I want to pull a small camper in the future it will need to be sorted out. I will look to upgrade the cooling of the fluid as well. The current system works fine but I think I’ll upgrade it when I get her worked on.
Air Conditioning
With summer fast approaching The AC will have to be sorted out. The compressor and pretty much everything else under there has to be replaced. I was able to grab an OEM compressor off the Range Rover in the breaker’s yard last year. I am hoping the garage I’m going to take her to will use that to put everything back together.
Not having AC is simply unacceptable in Oklahoma in the summer. With Mrs. OkieRover and I talking about the week we will attempt this task it is looking increasingly likely that it will be in the deep hot of summer. We don’t know any better I guess.
Well that’s about it for the weekend. If it were not for a unexpected trip to the grocery on Sunday I would have had a report on the NEW SHOCKS I would have installed. Instead I hooked up the broken fog lamp that I repaired.
As always, thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.
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