Defender clutch life.

[Lionel]

Just had a 50,000 service on the Defender (2004 TD5 Xtreme). Basically just an oil & filter change, but they (MLR Docklands) drew attention to the clutch, which they said was taking up at a high point on the pedal travel, and would "need to be monitored". They think that it may be reaching the end of its life.

This seems strange to me, as I am normally very easy on clutches, and I hardly ever tow anything. I would expect a clutch life of at least 150,000K's based on previous experience with other vehicles.

My vehicle did have the clutch master cylinder replaced under warranty due to a leak, and I am assuming that the pedal free play was adjusted correctly at the time. There have been absolutely no other problems with the clutch action.

What do other forum members think is average clutch life for a Defender? I know there are a lot of variables, but 50,000 seems very short to me.

Cheers,

Lionel

[Psimpson7]

Way more than that IMO. i would expect 200k + at least really.

[dullbird]

mmmmm I don't know Ian reckoned that there were reports of people burning out clutches after 15,000 miles in the UK. AFAIK Land rover clutches are not strong and dont last

[crump]

just had mine out for other reasons, hardly any discernable wear at 70000kms, but I dont drive in traffic.

[Psimpson7]

The clutches in TD5's are generally fine. Mine has now done 120k and a lot of that has been hard on it and I have no issues.

[reeksyofoz]

The '99 TD5 I own had a replacement at 135,000 kms by a previous owner, although it could have been 'cos the 'box was out anyway I suppose.

I thought the replacement was getting a bit worn recently (220,000km), but then measured the pedal height and discovered the adjuster on the front of the master cylinder box and had a play and it's all good now.

I have a feeling my m/c has been tinkered with and it's not the normal '99 set up and i'm not sure if the 2004 is adjustable, though :(

[Lionel]

The '99 TD5 I own had a replacement at 135,000 kms by a previous owner, although it could have been 'cos the 'box was out anyway I suppose.

I thought the replacement was getting a bit worn recently (220,000km), but then measured the pedal height and discovered the adjuster on the front of the master cylinder box and had a play and it's all good now.

I have a feeling my m/c has been tinkered with and it's not the normal '99 set up and i'm not sure if the 2004 is adjustable, though :(

Thanks for the info. I think the pedal height and freeplay may not have been set properly when the M/C was replaced under warranty. The pedal IS a bit higher than it should be, but there is still a bit of free play before the M/C shaft is engaged.

In all other respects the clutch is operating perfectly!

Cheers,

Lionel

[JDNSW]

't comment on the Defender, but the only times I have replaced a clutch on any other Landrover have been contamination by oil, or on one occasion in 1966, a broken centre.

I have recently replaced the clutch in my 110 after 250,000km, due to oil contamination - otherwise it was hardly worn. I don't do a lot of towing, and rarely tow anything over two tonnes.

John

[Blknight.aus]

I havent ever had to do a clutch under 250k if you exclude abuse, contamination and manufacturing defect.

[samuelclarke]

I replaced my clutch at 315,000km's - it still had life left in it, but the gearbox was out anyway so thought it was a good idea to do it.

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Has your TD5 been re-mapped?

The TD5 clutches are not designed to be able to take much additional torque over the strandard delivery (why should they!?). If its a standrad engine, you dont do much towing and the pedal is adjusted correctly it should go for a long while... If this is your case then Id suggest its probably a case of easy money for the garage...

However, if its remapped and delivering significantly more torque than standard and you do a lot of heavy towing, it will eat the clutch relitavely quickly. In this case, Rakeway (in the UK) make some excellent TD5 HD clutches that are designed for high-torque applications and at the same time do away with the Dual Mass flywheel. They chatter a bit at tickover but you'll never need another clutch!

Either way, watch it and change it at the first hint of any slippage. That way you'll more than likely be able to get away with only changing the clutch plate and bearing assembly, rather than needing to change the DMF also.

Hope that helps.
Jon

[gmeddy]

i'm still learning as much as i can, whats a DMF?
sorry if thats a stupid Q...

[one_iota]

Dual Mass Flywheel:

YouTube- 3D animation of dual mass flywheel

[stig0000]

i changed mine at 110k ish, why it was a personal thing, it was bought from new to tow our 3T van and all of it was pretty much off the main roads, so i wanted to change it as i like my car to be perfect and it was allways on my mind the clutch,

and yer i was very surprised at how good it still was, no burning anywere, thow out still perfect, spigot still good,

but i changed it my self in a workshop so it wasnt expensive for me, just parts, plus i now have a HD clutch in as i have plans to chip my car in a yr or so, and with lockers its alot more strain on the clutch;)

[Heggs]

Hey all I think i am up for a new clutch in my td5 110 2003 model as it is starting to play up, it dosn't always release and it shudders occasionally. I am taking it to get repaired on Wednesday as I have no idea how to fix it myself.
My question is worst case how much am i likely to spend? has anybody been down this path before?

[ciapek]

Hey all I think i am up for a new clutch in my td5 110 2003 model as it is starting to play up, it dosn't always release and it shudders occasionally. I am taking it to get repaired on Wednesday as I have no idea how to fix it myself.
My question is worst case how much am i likely to spend? has anybody been down this path before?

I started to get shudder at 120K (td5 110 2003), by 121k shudder + hell of a lot of grinding noises.
Gearbox off, results, failed DMF, replaced DMF, replaced clutch(no unusual wear) and entire clutch kit. From memory, $2750.00 parts and labour.

Check if your fuel pressure regulator is not leaking, the diesel leak slowly makes its way down to the flywheel housing and that could give you some shudder, also there might be an oil leak at the back of the sump which could be creeping onto the flywheel( hard to pick this one as its only visible once the gearbox is off.) Is the car marking the driveway ??.

I had the luck to get all of these symptoms at once so it was hard to tell which failure caused the most damage.....:eek:

[Heggs]

bugger I hope its not all those issues I cant really aford that amount at the moment.

It is an odd issue, it drives fine but it seams to not release the drive when pulling up to a stop and it shudders for a second or two then stops, feels like i havent put my foot on the clutch and it is about to stall. the other issue is that it dosnt happen all the time either...

[Lionel]

bugger I hope its not all those issues I cant really aford that amount at the moment.

It is an odd issue, it drives fine but it seams to not release the drive when pulling up to a stop and it shudders for a second or two then stops, feels like i havent put my foot on the clutch and it is about to stall. the other issue is that it dosnt happen all the time either...

Don't panic yet - it sounds more like a hydraulic problem the way you describe it. That wouldn't be so expensive to fix, but if the release fork is stuffed it will be.

Cheers,

Lionel

[carlosbeldia]

I had to replace mine at 134.000 km, but due to broken center. Pads were like new... my car have had a really bad life, full of off road and rescue towing...

[Heggs]

Thanks Lionel, I hope it is a simple thing like that and not too expensive, wrong side of the tax writeoffs at the moment.

[land864]

Hey Heggs

If you refer to a shudder or very rough idle when coming to a stop or shortly after , it may not be the clutch at all.

My 2002 has the rough idle thing happening occasionally.

I've been told it could be a fuel pressure issue.

Check the fule filter under the rear RHS guard and tell me if it has a leak of any kind.

pete

[Heggs]

Hey Heggs

If you refer to a shudder or very rough idle when coming to a stop or shortly after , it may not be the clutch at all.

My 2002 has the rough idle thing happening occasionally.

I've been told it could be a fuel pressure issue.

Check the fule filter under the rear RHS guard and tell me if it has a leak of any kind.

pete

Nah it's definately a shudder, I will hopefully get it sorted out on Wednesday when she is back at the mechanics.
Hopefully back on the road soon, these early mornings in the rain over here in the West are still to chilly for the motorbike.

[Heggs]

Well I got the call I was dreading it is the clutch gone. Bugger I was quoted around the $2,100 to replace it.

[ciapek]

Well I got the call I was dreading it is the clutch gone. Bugger I was quoted around the $2,100 to replace it.

I feel for you, do the flywheel while you are at it. Weather it needs it or not.

[Heggs]

The saga continues,

Well I had the Clutch and all the other bits associated with the clutch replace by the main dealer here in Perth, 10 days off the road as they didn’t have the parts. Not too worry they gave me a new one as a loan car.
Anyhow after pick up all seemed great until I went under load in 5th gear up Greenmount hill then this low noise started…. Bugger I thought why did they not check that while the box was out.

I finally got around to sorting out another repairer as I am getting rather ****ed with the dealer and didn’t want to be off the road for a long time again, so this time I checked out the new Landrover 4X4 suppliers in Morley. Andrew took it out for a test drive checked it all out checked the oil (all the stuff you would expect the dealer to have done) and found metal in the oil….Bugger.
As being a complete novice when it comes to anything like gearboxes he showed me a box that was pulled apart and what as most probably the cause of the issues (some sleeve on the shaft that holds the 5th gear in place).

So anyhow she’s booked in on the 18th to have the box pulled out again and the gearbox re-built. Ho hum just got over the last bill, I can’t complain really it has 235k on it and this is the first trouble I have had.

The guys down there were great and looks like they are getting a range of Landrover accessories for display. Hopefully they are awesome mechanics too, and I don’t have to keep going back to spend money on repairs when I could be spending money on accessories.

[Frenchie]

Yeah I was going to say usually the gearbox breaks before the clutch wears out and then you just get the clutch done as a matter of course while the box is out. ;)

[Psimpson7]

Mine just failed! d'oh!

Rakeway here I come.

[Jock The Rock]

Mine just failed! d'oh!

Rakeway here I come.

Are they the way to go?

I need one for heavy towing and a tweaked engine

Mine is starting to slip at 115,000 :( It's fine normal driving, but if you put strain on the engine you can here it slipping

I have done a fair bit of heavy towing and the engine is a lot more powerful than standard