98 di clutch/gear problems - help!!

Hey all, can't find an exact answer to my problem when i've searched the forums..

I've been having a problem getting my 98 diesel hippo into gear..

Its an intermittent problem that's got worse recently, sometimes it goes into gear no problem, other times (particularly 1st) its impossible to engage the gear, to the point that i'm almost bending the gear stick

The clutch pedal move's easily, no stiffness to it at all, not losing pressure and there's no noises coming from it when pressed, the gears are not crunching or anything and is fine once in gear.... literally just wont go into gear sometimes.

I've had a look and all seems to move smoothly underneath when the clutch is pressed, the only thing that doesn't look completely right is the push rod, not 100% but it looks to be at a slight angle.

Worried as I've been told to replace the clutch and master/slave cylinder and this s £500 i may not need to fork out!!

Sounds like its the gear selector arm to me!!

wouldn't the selector arm make noises? and vibrations? I'm not getting anything like that

It seems to me as everything else is working fine,then it must be a selector issue.

I'll look further into that one then thank you

Your most welcome,I might be wrong,but am just going by logic!!

best way to work, you could be right too!!

I'm no mechanic, i'm just going by what i've been reading and advised. My dad thinks it's the clutch or slave cylinder as the bite is low, but i always thought a low bite meant it'd had a new clutch?

Yes,mine had a new clutch,flywheel ect when I bought mine,just over three months ago and it does bite low!!

sounds promising to me

I think my dad's thinking i must not be able to press the pedal down far enough to engage the gears, but it seems easier on the higher up the gears i go, with 1st gear being the worst pest as it refuses point blank to go into 1st at times.

Check the slave cylinder mounting bracket is not loose or bent.This can be an issue with
with freelanders.

The slave/mounting doesn't seem to be bent as such, possibly the push rod at a slight angle, but not sure it suggests that could be the problem.

I've played about with it again today, pumping the pedal seems to help a little, not massively but slightly and also it will glide into every gear whilst the engine is not running...

maybe its a great dollop of a bit of all sorts wrong lol

You need to get a helper to push the clutch pedal down while you watch the slave cylinder. If the body moves in the oppersit direction to the push rod or it twists sideways then it's the bracket that is goosed.

My slave cylinder is at a slight angle in the bracket if thats what you mean, Ive seen pictures on here of others the same so I was thinking this was the norm.

Try spraying the clutch lever with lots of 3 in 1 ( the lever that the slave cylinder piston engages onto ) ..I had the same problem getting into first shortly after I bought mine...it took a while but got better and now its fine.

Thanks guys, its the pushrod itself that doesn't look like its perfectly straight but i have had someone push the pedal and it all seems to be moving fine and as it should.

I'll try that one, anything is worth a shot before i have to save £500 lol!