Clutch longevity

[ted44]

Hi all as the title says really.
My landy is a 1996 300Tdi and its done 185.000k's and I've a few trips coming up, the last trip i did to Frasers sandy cape last May 2012, I thought the clutch was slipping a bit but it has been ok since although I'm a bit paranoid about it now ( and to be honest it hardly ever gets driven too often ), so I was wondering what you good folk thought or had experienced, or the best way to check the clutch, or is it just a case of leaving it until it goes!
Cheers ted.

[whynot]

Great question and one that's been on the back of my mind... I'll be watching with interest

ta
Andrew

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Given the information provided, this is easy to answer... Change it!

Seriously, if you think you've heard/felt it slipping you have done, nothing else provides that noise and feeling.

If it was an about town vehicle I'd suggest different, but as your going to be in the middle of nowhere when it fails, don't expose yourself to that risk...

Change it.

R
Jon

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[roverrescue]

clutches like brake pads and a welcome...
always variable as to how different people will wear them out.

BUT as a general rule, sand would not be the best location to assess the function of a manual gearbox clutch. BIg hill 5th gear any slip?

The clutches are not known for fast wear rates, I have changed a few but only when doing other engine or gear bag work and it seems stupid not to replace a wear item while inside. Lets just say I now have I have a few clutch plates sitting in the shed with plenty of meat on them.

At 185k in a '96 how are other things travelling? I guess you could justify a clutch change if you were gonna do some engine work or gear bag work? Other than that I would most likely let it be until you have to do a rear main or bigend/main bearings or gearbag work.

Steve

[goingbush]

My Td5 has now done 175,000 klm, I had minor clutch flare about 20k ago but turned out to be hydraulic issue, fixed.

I put a borescope up the wading plug hole & the clutch itself looks as good as new (well the edge view anyway) and the pressure plate still looks factory clean with no friction material dust coating it , - you can still see the factory paint - and might I add not a sign of rear main leak either.

I'm happy enough to do my round Aust trip towing the van with it.

If you drive with finesse & dont ride the clutch I can easily see it doing 250k no probs.

[Nomad9]

Hi There,
My TD5, 269k with a full land rover service record I can't find any clutch replacement between 259k and 40k when the previous owner had the vehicle. As mentioned earlier the life of the clutch is very much dependant on the person working the pedals. If for the majority of the clutches life it has been you, you'll know, if it hasn't and you have any concerns then it might be wise to change it out, if you are doing a big trip it would be one less thing to worry about.
If you do replace the clutch you never know you might find something else that might not have lasted if the clutch is OK whilst doing the job.

[Red90]

All true. But the probability that the hydraulics are not dead from 14+ years of life is quite small..... Make sure the free play is set correctly.

If you do change it, change EVERYTHING from the master cylinder to the pilot bearing, because it all fails at some point.

[schuy1]

Changed mine out at 300000k , Complete kit new as it was feeling wonky on occasions. Plate itself was very good, flywheel face very good, Throw out rough, fingers on pressure plate 1/2 worn. The vechile has spent about 40% highway, 40%slow offroad farm work and 20% towing trailers up to 3T. So unless its had a real hard life 200000 should be easy. Having said that it, clutch wear is also very dependent on the drivers mechanical empathy.

Cheers Scott

[weeds]

Mine has been replaced twice.......both times the fork had failed I.e the slave push rod had punched a hole in the fork

190 000km
340 000km

Each time there was no sign of clutch slippage

[JDNSW]

Clutch life is very dependent on the driver. Mine has been replaced twice in 545,000km - first time because the gearbox was out to replace the input bearing, second time because the gearbox oil pump cover warped and leaked oil onto the clutch.

On both occasions the driven plate was hardly worn, and the flywheel and pressure plate showed no significant wear, although the pressure plate was replaced the first time and the flywheel skimmed.

John