Clutch problem: pins, clutch and gearbox, ideas and advice please

Hi All,

Sorry but I should have come and asked sooner. Imagine being in traffic on a step hill stuck in the school run, first day back at school. To crawl up the hill in the traffic I had put her in low range to gently climb the hill. Near the top put in to high range and move forward a couple of times. then simply nothing on the clutch peddle simply goes to the floor. I wait for the break down truck whislt directing the traffic past me and everyone hating me! A day later I slid underneath (the car is in the works car park) and see oil dripping from slave cylinder so order a slave cylinder. 2 days later fitted and bleed! test drive and 20 feet later no clutch. Push back in to parking space (11pm). Try bleeding again (next day) and notice the inards of the SC has popped out.

So reading through some threads assume the clutch pins have gone? However the clutch has previously been very low and the gearbox(?) is getting a bit whinny. So what should be changed ? Will it be the gearbox being whinny or could another part of the transmission be making a noise? The car has done 150K miles. I have a cracked screen but the car is really solid having been waxoiled from new, has a nice interior and nearly new tyres. Also have just done the water pump and other bits! V broke at the moment and this will all have to go on the overdraft!

I was going to look for a lower mileage box, when I bought the car 3 years ago I changed all the oils and put a castrol recommend oil MTX(?) in but not convinced that was the right thing to do. I have some smith and allen ep75w80fs oil waiting to go in the gearbox. If I try to find a box I still have to get it to Jersey but will find out about ferrying it across from Portsmouth.

Will find out if a friendly mechanic has a lift I can use?
Is it the pins or can I check other things?
What should I do?

Thanks in advance for useful suggestions, others that make me see the funny side would be appreciated as well!

You can check the clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder but odds on it will be the pins. Can't advise on gearbox problems you will have to make your own mind up on that one. Cost is the problem i suppose. Seems a bit daft taking the box out to do the pins and putting the duff one back in.

Where the slave cylinder is, can you move the lever round and round on the side of the gearbox? If so, spiral clutch pins have probably gone.

The good news is they cost about £1.50. The bad news is getting to the bar-stewards is a major headache. Various people on here say you can do it on the drive. I wouldn't. I found it hard enough using a four-poster and a transmission jack to get the gearbox off. Instructions in RAVE are good to follow. I banged a bit of steel up the centre of each spiral clutch pin when I did mine. My clutch had obviously been done not long before I got the car but the pins not changed. If you've had your clutch done and they haven't done the pins then you might have grounds to get them to do it because they should have done ... if that's what the issue is. Unfortunately it sounds very like it.

Hi Guys, thanks for the replies, Wammers that is the nub of my problem all that effort to get at the pins and then put the old one back, also the time issue of trying to get a second hand box over to Jersey. Might have to park the car up for the winter and buy a banger to run a round in for a few months.Then there is just leaving the car for a period time, arrggghhhhhh.

How about Emmotts? Or Ashcrofts might have a refurbed one. Not sure how much shipping to Jersey would be.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies, having pondered the situation and looked at a volvo 850 tdi and looked at what could go wrong with that have decided to get on with the job in hand.

Have selected a second hand gearbox that I will go for.
Will find out about which clutch kit to buy.
Might also have found a four post lift that a car enthusiast has in his shed at home! Will know next week.

Are there any other jobs I sholud consider whilst it is all down and out? Hand brake cable, obviously fluids. Any thing else.

Thanks again but not overly looking forward to it but feel it will build my experience of bending spanners as an amateur!

It isn't a difficult job. Just a lot to do. Took me 2 days - my first and only attempt. James Martin was full of very useful advice. It was pretty much all as in RAVE. I had and still have no special tools so cannot have needed any. You'll need replacement o-rings for the dip stick and copper washers for the gearbox drain plug etc. All fluids as per RAVE.

Raking through my vague memories ...

Get lots of little boxes to hold the bolts. I marked up all the props etc so I put everything back exactly where it came off. Not sure if this was required but I was playing safe.

I had a bugger of a time getting the starter motor off. Spent about an hour struggling and swearing. I seem to remember in the end I dropped the back of the gearbox down just a little bit (watch the engine bending up at the front!) and got a REALLY long curved extension bar and went in over the top of the gearbox to undo the bolt at the back.

I made up an adapter from a bit of scrap metal to connect the gearbox to the top of the transmission jack. You'll see where it bolts in. It is simple enough to make but if you can borrow one then that's one less job.

As for the pins themselves, well. What a bl**dy joke. Do whatever you can to stop it happening again. I jammed a bit of a pop rivet or welding rod up the inside each spiral pin and made sure it was absolutely jammed in there. Some people put a blob of weld on the end. That was a bit too drastic for me.

Getting the shaft to line up to get the gearbox back in was hard work. You need to have the clutch fully in. I used a broom handle pushed through a piece of wood so I could wedge it down against the seat. I realise that isn't a great description but maybe you get the idea. Once the clutch is in I found the transfer box was bending my transmission jack over so I had to get my shoulder under that side to straighten it all up and then it just slid into the hole and job done. If you can get a few mates over then that will help. It isn't light.

Someone had over-torqued my gearbox bolts (probably the sod who did the clutch but not the pins) and stripped the thread on one. I used a longer bolt that managed to find a bit of thread left at the back of the hole with green loctite to hold it in place. Cut the end off the bolt and put a nut on. Still holding now so did the job. Mr bodgit strikes again.

Take your time, mark everything up before removing it, take lots of photos and I don't thin you'll have any trouble. Good luck!

Looks like I was too busy to take many photos. Or I've lost the photos. Found these. These are the pins with me in the process of hammering something up the inside:



And this is the clutch fork back in place.



When I got my clutch out it looked nearly new so I didn't replace it. I did put a new slave cylinder on though as it was pretty cheap. The clutch and brakes use the same reservoir so you might as well flush and bleed the braking system while you're at it. Do this following RAVE to the letter!

Just found this. You've probably already read it but just in case. Appears I had a few hiccups that my traumatised brain had forgotten about!

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f10/clutch-spiral-pins-replacement-p38-1995-2-5-dt-203435.html

Just had a thought. Might be worth changing the release bearing? I never did but in hindsight I have no idea how solid the Rangie ones are. Anyone else on here know? James Martin, Wammers or maybe SeanMull?

normally pretty good , but it comes with the clutch cover

Thanks alll for the advice, especially Grrrrrr. That is really helpful and encouraging.

Where replies for this thread had stopped I had started another thread about the bits I need to do the job. Why not replace the roll pins with a high tensile steel bolt? Is there not enough room?

Thanks again

You're welcome.

Maybe you cannot see from my photo but the holes are pretty thin. Tapered slightly too, if I recall correctly. I guess you could probably drill through and make the hole bigger. I don't know enough about the stresses and strains to say if that is safe or not. I tend not to touch things like that unless I know exactly what I'm doing. I guess the question is: why did Land Rover only use little pins?

Also, I think if you can get a second transmission jack then that will help too. The gearbox with transfer box on the end is heavy and anything to help line it up to get it back in is worth it.

Dont drill them out bigger, somebody had done that on mine and eventually the shaft broke at one of the holes, new shaft at the time (couple of years ago now) was £170 ish so we welded it up as they were on back order and car was stuck up in the air on my mates ramp so it was a case of needs must.