80 series service - 60 miles of London

[whereisgibson]

I need a garage that can service an HDJ80 within 60 miles of London preferably. I once went to the main dealer who told me the engine oil was dangerously low, based upon the dash gauge reading and not actually even reading the dipstick, so I would prefer independents who know the series. Any recommendations?

 

[tenchris.tenchris]

Hie mate. Dipstick is the best way to check level. However it may mislead you if you switch off engine and immediately check. Depending5on viscosity I suggest you give it 3 mins to settle if you are running 5W. If you are running on 10W I suggest 5 mins.

However, I suggest checking oil level before 1st start in the morning. That is the true level.

 

[Chris]

I think he was suggesting that the garage didn't know how to check the oil rather than himself.

Is it only an oil change you are needing? It's a very easy thing to do with only a couple of tools. If you were closer I'd be able to do it for you in minutes. 10 lits and a filter. Staggering just how much a garage will charge you for that.

 

[SimonD]

Depending on where you are in London, http://www.frogsisland4x4.com/ in Oxfordshire may work for you. 60-70 miles, less is you are west London.

 

[whereisgibson]

Yes, thanks for the clarification Chris, indeed it was a demonstration of the ineptitude of some main dealers. I've done an oil change on the beast myself before, but it needs the disks, belts etc and front exhaust all doing. Us city folk don't like getting our suits all dirty lying on the pavement

Simon I've been trying to actively throw my money at Frogs for the last few weeks and have been a customer of theirs whilst I lived in Oxford, but it's good to explore other options that might be closer to home.

 

[Chris]

Frogs. Ha ha ha ha ha. Oh dear. Yes. Rubbish aren't they.

Well look, I can't do that for you from here but at least we can help you with advice on the work that you want so that you don't get robbed. All those jobs are easy and any independent garage could do the work, but if you are armed with the understanding you can tell a good one from a bad one. I would suggest that you buy the parts yourself, mostly so you KNOW what you're getting. Local garage may well fit any old crap. I'd have a genuine oil filter, discs from a reputable supplier like Rough trax. That sort of thing. I put a pair of genuine belts on yesterday and they were branded TOYOTA Mitsuboshi which is exactly what Milner sells. I'd have some nice new pads too. Genuine or EBC maybe. I really like the Milner ones. Their new pad is the best I have had. So, source the parts then you are only paying for labour and we can work out roughly how long these jobs should take. It's a morning's work.