Before I drop the gearbox.....

Managed to get the clutch replaced on the weekend, cheers for the offer of help Pat, had a mate from work come over Saturday and give me a hand with moving the engine (those engine mounts are a right PITA:censored:) - took your advice and just pulled the engine back, don't think we would have been able to pull the whole thing out anyway.
Clutch was buggered, have attached a pic of what I found, not sure of the technical terms, but you can see around the springs where the metal has snapped, some of the pieces are on the ground in the foreground of the photo. Guessing (hoping) this is why I couldn't disengage the clutch.
Anyway, just gotta finish putting everything back together and will be able to take it for a test run in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed, all will be good :angel:


Attachment 80036

Glad it was something clear to spot. It might have actually been worse to do all that dismantling only to find perfectly serviceable parts inside.

Best of luck with the test run.

Pt.

:D:D:D I have a working clutch! woo hoo! Wasn't able to take her out for a proper drive yesterday, as I still have to put the flooring back in, and get the damn transmission tunnel back in, but started her up when I got home and was able to reverse the car out of my shed for the first time in several weeks, and drive it back in. So it seems that I have fixed that problem - a huge relief. I must say, never have I done something that has been so incredibly frustrating and yet so rewarding in the end. Not sure it is something I would recommend for everyone to try, but for those so inclined, it is worth a crack if you have the time, the tools and somewhere to work on it.

Many thanks to Pat and Eddy for their offers of help - next time I have to do something like this (and I'm sure there will be a next time - it's a Landrover after all ;)) I think I will take you up on it, to Grappler for kindly bringing up to Perth the axle I bought off him, and to everyone else for their replies, advice and suggestions. :clap2:

Anyone know what would have caused the clutch to fail the way it did? It was only about 25000km old, was put in about 3 years ago when I had the engine rebuilt. Just a faulty part, or could it be indicative of a problem somewhere else?

Just a guess but as the failure of the metal in the clutch looks fresh (not developed from a stress crack), it is located around one of the springs and it is a 6 spring unit (as apposed to the heavier, larger 6 spring unit). I might hazard a guess and say it is trauma related combined with a ****ty part? What brand was the driven & pressure plate?

It was an AP brand - same as what I have fitted, am hoping it doesn't do it again in the near future. Would have liked to put in a heavier clutch like what is in the 130's, but the budget just didn't stretch far enough. Time will tell I guess.

Brett,the HD 130 clutches suck IMHO,they make the peddle too heavy.The TDCi clutches look like that when they fail,maybe a bad design?,LR have brought out an updated model. Pat

So I was able to finally take the big girl out for a test drive yesterday, and drove her into work today, so far so good. Not sure if its just my paranoia after not having driven it for nearly three months :confused:, but it does sound and feel a little bit different to how it used to, not really in a bad way, just different. Like I said, it's been a while though.