New clutch not releasing.

[curnow]

G'Day Gang,
I replaced pressure plate and clutch plate on my 00 TD5 Defender. After reassembling I cant get the clutch to release. Clutch pedal feels good, I have bled system and appears not to have air. I adjusted free play on pedal thinking perhaps pedal ha not enough travel but still no release. With pedal fully depressed and brakes hard on the clutch will slip but with motor running I cant select gear to start off. I have to start in gear.

Any suggestions please.

Cheers
Dennis

[Psimpson7]

You haven't put the centre plate in the wrong way around have you? That will cause this issue.

[G Griggs]

I had that problem , all felt good, would slip just a little. Clutch plate was in backwards

[TeamFA]

It's all I can think of as well... I remember when I was putting the clutch plate in that I should have seen which way the old one was when it came out...

[dromader driver]

team fa,

the last one i did had a label face towards the flywheel embossed/engraved on the plate.

[curnow]

Im sure I put the plate in with the raised part of centre facing away from engine. That was the way it was packed. There was an issue when I was putting the slave cyl back on. I couldn't get the plunger to push fluid back up to master cyl. I had to crack the bleed nipple and let fluid out. I am hoping this indicates a master cyl problem. I have driven(without clutch)200km and the pedal seems more spongey so perhaps it is still air in system.

Cheers
Dennis

[jimr1]

Hi Dennis , I would start by checking your clutch master , and slave to make sure there both working , before you take your gearbox out again , then check your clutch fork , inside the bell housing , If your happy there all working and OK. Then you will have to drop the box again to see what is wrong ,and why the clutch is not operating , good luck mate , jimr1..

[BST4X4XFA]

Hi there Dennis,

Not sure how you bled the system. If you don't have the fancy tools the workshops use, I found it's a 3 person job. I had my boy on the pedal, my wife keeping the reservoir full and myself on the nipple.

If you have a look as where the plumbing run you'll see the pipe goes higher than the reservoir on the firewall and down to the slave. You'll chase the air down to the slave but before you can get it all out you have to stop and refill the reservoir, during that time the air moves back up to the high point.

Hence the fancy tools or 3 people.

Hope you get it sorted.

Cheers, Jurgens.

[curnow]

GDay Gang,
Gearbox out again and yes plate is in backwards. I should have checked the cd manual and not relied on how the kit was packed. I did make up a pressure bleeder that worked quite well. I replaced the master cyl and used the old cap and fitted a tubeless tyre valve stem to it. Made up a couple of pressure vessels and flushed a litre of fluid through. I don't think any air would survive in the system after that.

Thanks to all for your help and suggestions.

Cheers
Dennis

[TeamFA]

Thanks for letting us know!