New clutch - gears not engaging

[kahuna]

Hi.

I just fixed my engine oil leak and while being there, replaced old clutch on my Freelander 1.8i 2000 by mechanics for $600. They returned the car with it being hard to put into a gear. Worst are 1st and reverse. Also they fit slave clutch hydraulic cylinder in a funny way - they thought moving it closer to the lever will ease the gear change.
I did stupid thing providing my own parts - no warranty, I initially thought of doing it myself.
I put new master/slave hydraulics kit and slave metal bracket - it got ways better, but when car gets hot (30min driving) it becomes hard to put 1st from neutral. Clutch is dragging - not disengaging fully.
Is it possible to put a clutch wrong or it is nowmal with new clutch and I need to sort out something between pedal - slave cylinder rod?

[Blknight.aus]

its not disengaging properly...

could be friction plate in the wrong way
could be a damaged friction or pressure plate, even a warp on the flywheel.
could be the clutch is not bled properly.
could be the clutch pedal is not adjusted or getting full travel.

[101RRS]

Hi.

I just fixed my engine oil leak and while being there, replaced old clutch on my Freelander 1.8i 2000 by mechanics for $600. They returned the car with it being hard to put into a gear. Worst are 1st and reverse. Also they fit slave clutch hydraulic cylinder in a funny way - they thought moving it closer to the lever will ease the gear change.
I did stupid thing providing my own parts - no warranty, I initially thought of doing it myself.
I put new master/slave hydraulics kit and slave metal bracket - it got ways better, but when car gets hot (30min driving) it becomes hard to put 1st from neutral. Clutch is dragging - not disengaging fully.
Is it possible to put a clutch wrong or it is nowmal with new clutch and I need to sort out something between pedal - slave cylinder rod?

This is common issue on manual Freelanders - was the issue there before you put the car in.

We have been discussing this very issue in the last few posts on this thread http://www.aulro.com/afvb/freelander/135822-98-xedi-lseries-head-gasket-4.html#post1575549

Assuming the clutch did go in correctly then some of the points raised in the posts may be relevant. I am waiting to put mine back on the road to see if mine is better than it was before. In really hot weather I have to turn my engine off to get it into reverse or first.

The mechs logic about moving the slave closer to the clutch lever is sound - how did they do it - I elongated my mount bracket holes a little and put a small nut inside the plastic end of the push rod making it slightly longer.

Garry

[kahuna]

could be the clutch is not bled properly.
could be the clutch pedal is not adjusted or getting full travel.
It's a new sealed unit - master and slave, no bleeding required, although looking at the the old set - it could be done if I had not bought new one.
Pedal I looked at, RAVE CD says if it is not 20mm lower than brake pedal - it is OK.
Plates fitted wrong way or warped - I cannot even think it whithout shiver ))

[kahuna]

This is common issue on manual Freelanders - was the issue there before you put the car in.

Yes, that is the problem - it was completely fine before the new clutch. There have been that problem before - I sorted it out by embracing slave with metal ring - much more rigid that plastic flanges.
I think the self adjusting works that way: when you release the pedal, clutch lever pushes slave cylinder rod back, and there is a one way valve in master - to allow fluid back to reservoir. That's why you can push slave rod back by hand.
When you push pedal, the travel of master rod is applied to slave exactly. So, the main idea is keeping slave firmly in place - no flexing of bracket or fixings.
Why moving slave closer actually works? There is a spring in master or slave, and moving it closer makes stronger resistance to clutch lever, so it stops earlier.
Yeah, thanks for the tip, I'll try drilling holes closer in the bracket.

[aikendrum105]

That's an interesting point about the plastic slave and plastic retaining ring - could well get spongy when hot and affect the travel - I might turn up a ring and try it also - do you have a picture of how yours looks Kahuna ?

Cheers,

Scott.

[kahuna]

- do you have a picture of how yours looks ?

Yepp, here:
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8405/img0947b.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/141/img0947b.jpg/)

[kahuna]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/11/262.jpg

[aikendrum105]

Thanks for posting the pic ! I'll get stuck in and turn up something similar and see if it helps our two hippos out !

Cheers,

Scott

[101RRS]

Thanks for posting the pic ! I'll get stuck in and turn up something similar and see if it helps our two hippos out !

Cheers,

Scott

Don't forget mine as well:)

[aikendrum105]

That's your xmas surprise ruined then .... ;)

I'll definitely knock up a few extra !

Cheers,

[kahuna]

Guys, have a close look at gear lever connection rod, that cylindrical 90 degree joint.
I just got my car from service, they found it worn out completely, no rubber, lots of play. Now I almost not observing our problem anymore, maybe just a bit.
There is now no correlation with engine bay temperature.

[aikendrum105]

Thanks for letting us know mate - I'll be crawling around underneath our petrol hippo (which has the worst gear selection when hot) and let you know what I find !

Have a great xmas !

Scott.

[101RRS]

Mine seems to be better now that I have added a bit to the slave piston.

Gear linkage issues would apply irrespective of temp where mine was temp related.

I also recently replaced the gearbox oil - but the old stuff while well used and dark was still clear. Unfortunately when I went to get two litres of SynTrans someone put a bottle of SynTrax with the SynTrans and of course I did not notice until I went to put it in and it was too late to change it - so now my box has 1 litre of SynTrans and 1 litre of SynTrax in it - shouldn't make any difference - I hope.

Garry