Possibly joining the Defender club, Clutch issues

[SpammyG]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and considering purchasing a Defender. It is a 1996 300Tdi 130 Dual cab that belongs to my wife's grandfather. He's had it from new and looked after it pretty well but after moving to the city, he's got no real use for it now. It's done 240000 K's and starts and runs beautifully.

I've had a good look underneath and the chassis and bulkhead are rust free, i know that these are the main problem areas as far as rust goes, but interested to know of any other problem areas. It also has a couple of small leaks, from the rocker cover gasket and the rear main seal but the oil level hasnt dropped significantly in the time i've had it. Could these be significant issues or are they fairly normal?

Anyway, I've been test driving it for the last month and loving it, but the only hesitation I have is with the clutch.

Over the last 3 weeks, the clutch has gone from feeling normal with a slight bit of free play,to now going to the floor with little resistance, and apart from the last couple of inches feels completely like freeplay. I've checked the fluid levels and topped it up, but it wasnt really down at all, and there are no visible leaks from either the master or slave cylinder. It's still drivable (barely), going up through the gears is easier than downshifting. (I havent driven it since the clutch got really bad.)

I am ok on the tools, but dont really have the time or the expertise to do any serious work to it myself.

I'd really appreciate any advice you could give me on possible causes for the clutch problems and any other general advice on the car.

I have booked it in at a specialist Land Rover mechanic in Adelaide, Sovereign Auto Services, to have a look at the clutch and also give it a general look over.

Thanks in advance.

Sam

[weeds]

i have had the clutch fork fail twice........this is where the slave cylinder push rod wears out the seat of the fork and pushes through. if you are not losing brake fluid than this would be the short favourite

its quite easy to remove the slave, if the push rod is not protruding from the housing than its gearbox out.....make sure they re-inforce the fork, some say it weekend the fork and won't do it but where i got mine done just before xmas they have had great success with beefing up the fork.

[SpammyG]

Thanks for that Kelvin,

Do you have any idea of the sort of cost involved in getting that work done?

[blue_mini]

I doubt you'll get much change from 1500 plus parts. Or you could get some experience people from on here around, rip the motor out, swap the clutch and put it all back in again. Should be doable in a day with experiences hands on the job.

[weeds]

er, i cannot remember. i didn't get much change out of $2k but this included complete clutch, modified fork, brake vac pump and power steering hose.

[harro]

Sam,
it could also just be the plunger seal in the master cylinder starting to fail.

It's the small seal that stops the fluid from going back into the reservoir when you press the pedal down.

A seal kit is cheap as chips and not that much drama to fit.
I would be checking that first.
Start with the easiest and work your way in:).

Cheers,
paul.

[weeds]

Sam,
it could also just be the plunger seal in the master cylinder starting to fail.

It's the small seal that stops the fluid from going back into the reservoir when you press the pedal down.

A seal kit is cheap as chips and not that much drama to fit.
I would be checking that first.
Start with the easiest and work your way in:).

Cheers,
paul.

thats means whole brake pedal box is to come out....

you can use a set of vice grips on the flex hose under the car that connect to the slave, clamp the hose and your pedal should be rock hard....pretty this would discount the master cylinder? could be wrong

[JDNSW]

thats means whole brake pedal box is to come out....

you can use a set of vice grips on the flex hose under the car that connect to the slave, clamp the hose and your pedal should be rock hard....pretty this would discount the master cylinder? could be wrong

Yes. That will differentiate between the two probable faults.

John

[SpammyG]

Thanks for the advice guys. Might try the vicegrips. If it is the fork, that might be enough to turn me off. Don't have that kind of money handy :( I would have thought that if it was something breaking, like the fork, it would have gone suddenly from feeling normal to having no pressure. This did it bit by bit over 3 weeks.

[justinc]

I would start by replacing both hydraulic cylinders and flushing the fluid out.
Even if there are no obvious external leaks, air can still be drawn in when the piston is released/ returning, causing the 'requiring a bleed' symptom.

JC

[wrinklearthur]

Hi Sam

Welcome aboard to the forum.

Try the cheapest fix first and make sure the adjustment is correct at the pedal box and changing the fluid like JC said is a good idea.

I had a problem like your Land Rover suddenly loosing it's adjustment and the most probable explanation was that my slave cylinder push rod wasn't seated properly into the throwout race lever and over corrugations it found it's way into place, upsetting the adjustment.

Thinking the worst, I pulled my gearbox out to find there wasn't a thing wrong with the clutch apart from some normal wear. :(

Since I had already brought a new heavy duty clutch and pressure plate kit, I fitted those new parts along with a strengthened lever back into my defender and used the best of the old parts in another rebuild ( 'Fred' ).

By the way, I didn't changed either the Defender's master cylinder nor the slave cylinder at the time and they are still working fine.
.

[SpammyG]

Just picked up the deefer from Sovereign Auto Services this morning. All fixed! Apparently the master cylinder pushrod had damaged its threads and had put itself out so they took the pushrod out, fixed the threads and adjusted it all. Drives sweet again and only a couple of hundred bucks down! They were very helpful with everything.

[SpammyG]

Thought I'd give a bit of an update on things.

Since last post, have joined the defender owners club. Loving it. Have had about 7000kms of worry free cruising in the old girl.

However approximately 500 kms ago, the clutch issues started up again. Fired her up one morning and discovered half the clutch travel was free play. Stayed that way for a week or so and then slowly got worse.

Found a slow leak from the master cylinder down the back of the pedal. So anyway have booked it in back at Sovereign to get the master cylinder replaced.

I have been doing some reading and seen a few people say that you should do the slave at the same time and that you should get the cylinder sleeved also.

Can anyone give me the good oil on whether this is worth doing?

Thanks

Sam

[Pickles2]

Glad it's going well.
By "Defender Owner's Club"..do you mean the "club" we're all in by being owners, or is there an actual Defender Owners Club?
Cheers, Pickles.

[SpammyG]

Pickles.

Just the club that we all are (or should be) in mate.

Any advice re changing slave at same time as master?

Sam

[Pickles2]

Pickles.

Just the club that we all are (or should be) in mate.

Any advice re changing slave at same time as master?

Sam
AAhh right, Well, I'll be in that Club when our "90" arrives from the UK in about 2 months!
Cheers, Pickles.

[jimr1]

Pickles.

Just the club that we all are (or should be) in mate.

Any advice re changing slave at same time as master?

Sam
Hi Sam , if the clutch master , and clutch slave are the same age , then change them both ! because if you don't now you will be replacing it in the not to distant future , they don't cost to many $$ you can then forget about them for quite a few years . cheers jimr1:)

[Blknight.aus]

I recomend changing the both at once.

keep the old ones have them sleeved and put a new kit in with plenty of rubber grease, bag them up and replace them again next time you blow out a clutch, or have to pull the donk or box for some other reason.

[Bushie]

For the few dollars involved replace the flexible line between the bulkhead and the slave cylinder as well.


Martyn

[SpammyG]

Thanks for the advice guys, guess i'll have a chat with the mechanic when I drop it off and make a decision then.

The clutch almost went to the floor about a week ago, topped up the master cylinder reservoir with fluid and since then, its been pretty good, but still the slow leak.

Think i might get them to look at the wheel bearings as well as i've developed some pretty annoying squeaks.

Sam