Hello all, I have been trawling the internet and found this site, got my first ever Landrover last friday, i have wanted one since i was 17 and finally at 37 got one, a 15 year old defender 90 200 tdi. In the week ive had it i have already, pulled the hedges from around my front garden with it, Saved my brother in law when he got his Transit van full of tools buried to the axles in a field locally, I LOVE IT !!!. Also i didn't realise that there were so many forums available to talk to like minded folk, i will be off roading it properly in the future but for now i need to find out what basic checks i should be carrying out and i want to make sure everything is sound before i start to test it properly.

 

If you've not already done this, these would be the first things I would check/change:

Engine oil and filter.

Main gearbox fluid (yours uses ATF - automatic transmission fluid - if what's in there isn't a nice crimson colour then change it immediately!)

Transfer box oil (yours uses EPX 80W90 GL4 or GL5 extra pressure gear oil - don't buy it in Halfords as they're highly expensive!)

Front and rear diff oils (EPX 80W90 GL4 or GL5 as above)

Check front and rear swivel hubs, these use either EPX 80W90 or a one shot grease. If theres grease in them it's probably because they were leaking oil, the grease being much more viscous doesn't leak so easily, best to leave the grease in there. If it's oil, top it up with GL4 or GL5 gear oil as above.

Check the tightness of the prop shaft bolts - ten minutes work with a torque wrench - chock all four wheels and take the handbrake off to do the rear one. Regrease the front and rear prop shaft sliding sections and all four UJ's - you'll need a low pressure grease gun and some LM grease to go in it. These often get over looked by previous owners so they're worth paying some attention to.

Flush the brake fluid on all four corners - you'll need between one and two litres of DOT 4 brake and clutch fluid. If the clutch reservoir looks a bit 'murky' or has a greyish tinge to the fluid, it's worth flushing that too with the same stuff - typically less than half a litre to do it, only do two full depressions of the clutch before checking the level in the reservoir as it's woefully small and you seriously don't want to run it dry as airlocks in the clutch line take ages to pump out manually. Ideally, you'll need an assistant for both these jobs. It's a good idea to check the condition of the brake lines too - if anything looks corroded in the solid lines then replace the corroded bits, if the flexi hoses look cracked, replace them too (they're about a fiver each from Paddock spares online.)

With that lot done you can rest assured everything is nicely lubed and unlikely to break on you through lack of servicing.

Cheers,

 

Congratulations on buying your rover you will love it!

 

Thanks for the help Adz.

 

No worries mate - how far from the M1 into Northants are you? I'm driving down to Kent from Cumbria, via Nottingham to pick up some wheels, on Thursday if you fancy a pint and a look over your truck?

Cheers,