One of the first jobs I did when I got to Elisenheim was to check the oil in the front portal axles. I didn't do this last time as I was thinking about the quality/age of the oil - the rear portals hadn't had much of a top-up since we left UK, whereas the fronts had had loads of fresh oil almost daily due to the "pumping" phenomenon. Over the last few months I've been wondering if this wasn't a mistake, so out came all of the oil from both sides so I could look at the magnetic drain plugs. Right side - no metal flakes, left side - loads. Eek!
I've therefore made the decision not to go far as having seen what the rear bearing looked like with only a few flakes, I'm a bit concerned that this one is going to be a lot worse. Better catch it now though. Hopefully we'll be able to start and finish the job early next week.
In the meantime I've fitted the axle temperature monitor - just 2 connections to make tomorrow morning and it should be up and running ready for testing.
I've therefore made the decision not to go far as having seen what the rear bearing looked like with only a few flakes, I'm a bit concerned that this one is going to be a lot worse. Better catch it now though. Hopefully we'll be able to start and finish the job early next week.
In the meantime I've fitted the axle temperature monitor - just 2 connections to make tomorrow morning and it should be up and running ready for testing.