Arrghh Britpart HD clutch. Made of toffee

Bought a Britpart power steering pump for my F plate 90. It's been troublesome, some days working OK other times not. It never seems to work so well when cold. Sometimes the steering is thick and thin, sort of easy then hard. No where as good as the original! So pay the extra and fit and forget.

It seems that Britpart is OK for trim parts but not so much for mechanical parts.

****part door cards are crap

clivecottrell1943 said:

Bought a Britpart power steering pump for my F plate 90. It's been troublesome, some days working OK other times not. It never seems to work so well when cold. Sometimes the steering is thick and thin, sort of easy then hard. No where as good as the original! So pay the extra and fit and forget.

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Are all the pipes pucka inside? especially the rubber ones as they can collapse internally blocking the flow of oil.
Mate had a 90 with disco 200 conversion and his pas was always playing up, new pump just the same turned out to be the pas box at fault, mayeb another avenue to look at.

GATSO said:

****part door cards are crap

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For which version? I bought TD5 ones about two years ago and they looked like OE in a different box.
LR want £150 for one. The Britpart ones are £50.

I hope Britpart haven't gone for rubbish copies now as l could do with a couple more.....but l'm not paying £300

Personally I wouldn't buy anything britpart. The only thing that is on my whole rebuild was the handbrake cable, as the Bearmach one broke within a month.

I might risk it with trim and non important stuff, but not a clutch

The latest batch of door cards are crap clips break and the area they clip into flexes [emoji90]so u can't clip them on properly sent them back got genuine ones fitted a treat [emoji106][emoji41]

GATSO said:

The latest batch of door cards are crap clips break and the area they clip into flexes [emoji90]so u can't clip them on properly sent them back got genuine ones fitted a treat [emoji106][emoji41]

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Damn!

discomania said:

It never ceases to amaze me how many people still fit Britpart components. I am not trying to be obnoxious but no one ever comes on this forum or indeed any other forum speaking highly of Britpart.

The only Britpart stuff that is worth buying has 'G' on the end - genuine part in a Britpart bag!

It annoys me that people on this forum buy Britpart stuff in good faith and it just comes back to bite them. I realise that people cannot always always afford better than Britpart or OEM parts but I think given it will often end up costing them double or more to fix the issue its really worth holding off if you can.

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Hmm - I did an extensive trawl of the forums before fitting the HD ****part Clutch Kit and those who had fitted them were happy.

No one wishes they had bought an AP/B&Beck version more than me now. I hate working on this bloody car.

On the plus side now the clutch is quite a lot lighter and silent.

Still waiting on a reply from Paddocks - they needed chasing for a response to the first email so I guess a call will be needed.

For me now Britpart is a no go zone except for minor 'how can they make it badly' type bits. I should have realised this when the two rear brake cylinders failed within 3 months of fitting back in 2008.

Hey ho - if it saves someone the hassle/expense of refitting a proper clutch I will feel better.

THEengineer said:

i put a valeo in mine,seemed well built

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I can swear for Valeo too. We installed many clutch assemblies and other Valeo parts into BMWs, Porsches and VWs when I had my performance shop.

They make a ton of parts for the German cars and we had no problems at all with their quality and fitment.

The clutch in my Defender burst all the rivets out of it, no manufacturer logo or anything but it was a budget one:


I fitted an AP clutch and the difference in quality is obvious:


For the size of job spending a bit more on decent parts is just good sense!

When I first read the ops post and looked at the pic I straight away thought hes a clutch slipper or hes got a release/adjustment problem as thats pretty worn for only 20k, almost on the wear limit and a polished friction surface, then just seeing the pics from lowlight which is totally the opposite way, may confirm what I initially thought?

I don't know how old the clutch in mine was or how many miles but there was loads of life left in the friction material, I do a bit of towing but mostly drive it on roads and green lanes, to see the rivets blown out like that I can only guess it's the design of the plate that's not up to the job. The OP's plate looks more worn but it's the same thing that killed that.

If it went the same way mine did there was no warning, one second there was drive then bang! All drive gone.

Lowlight said:

The clutch in my Defender burst all the rivets out of it, no manufacturer logo or anything but it was a budget one:


I fitted an AP clutch and the difference in quality is obvious:


For the size of job spending a bit more on decent parts is just good sense!

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Just looking at your pictures of the clutch's. On the old clutch you have more springs than on the new one. Does that make any difference. My original clutch went about a year ago. ( It was 25 years old) No warning. One minute it was there, the next it was gone. I replaced it with a Britpart HD one which is working and feels fine.

lynall said:

When I first read the ops post and looked at the pic I straight away thought hes a clutch slipper or hes got a release/adjustment problem as thats pretty worn for only 20k, almost on the wear limit and a polished friction surface, then just seeing the pics from lowlight which is totally the opposite way, may confirm what I initially thought?

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When I just read YOUR post I realised you are talking out your dumb arse!

Go put your glasses on and have a better look. Or quit talking ****.

The clutch has never been slipped and the friction material when measured against the new AP with a micrometer was almost the same - virtually no wear at all.

mikescuba said:

Just looking at your pictures of the clutch's. On the old clutch you have more springs than on the new one. Does that make any difference. My original clutch went about a year ago. ( It was 25 years old) No warning. One minute it was there, the next it was gone. I replaced it with a Britpart HD one which is working and feels fine.

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Mike

The failed unit above is another Britpart HD clutch, they have eight springs and this may be part of the problem, along with poor quality metal that allows the rivets to pop through the retaining plate.

Trust me on the history of my Britpart HD clutch - Fitted in Sept 09 to my P&J that is driven as gently as possible, never off roaded. The clutch failed after 20,000 miles and went without warning.

Do not leave home without an AA/RAC card in your pocket with this clutch fitted. This part is ****, not fit for purpose and should shame BRITPART.

I personally will never fit any of the TAT ****PART sell - on principle.

crowmann said:

When I just read YOUR post I realised you are talking out your dumb arse!

Go put your glasses on and have a better look. Or quit talking ****.

The clutch has never been slipped and the friction material when measured against the new AP with a micrometer was almost the same - virtually no wear at all.

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Very very touchy, some people really dont take constructive critisicm well
Look at the pics of your friction plate and lowlights one and tell me there isnt a difference?
I dont know what you do for a living but I can safely say I have changed quite a few clutches and know a slipper when I see one.
Look at the crap between the grooves, where do you think it came from?

lynall said:

Very very touchy, some people really dont take constructive critisicm well
Look at the pics of your friction plate and lowlights one and tell me there isnt a difference?
The important thing here is you dont know how thick the cheap friction was before you wore it out?
I dont know what you do for a living but I can safely say I have changed quite a few clutches and know a slipper when I see one.

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Unlike Lowlights I am the only driver of the car whilst this particular plate has been in service and can tell you in absolute truth the car has never had its clutch slipped in any of the 20,000 miles it managed before collapsing.

Unlike some I always pull away in 1st so on this point you are wrong.

The friction material was virtually identical in width to the AP version I have fitted, I measured it out of curiosity. I accept I do not know what it started out with but I suspect it was hardly worn which coincides with the gentle road use the car has been subject to in my care.

Just as an aside even if the clutch was slipped this would not be relevant to the failure of the component.

The truth is Defender spares are cheap and often for a good reason, they are crap.

I appreciate all vehicles have there failings and foibles but Land Rover sure made a crap job of making a tough off roader.

Corrosion that starts before the car leaves the factory, lousy build quality, crap driveline and gearbox, rubbish electrics - headlights anyone? Leaks galore ..... I could go on.

Do people think the G Wagen / Toyota Landcruiser owners suffer the same basic issues. My guess is no.

crowmann said:

Mike

The failed unit above is another Britpart HD clutch, they have eight springs and this may be part of the problem, along with poor quality metal that allows the rivets to pop through the retaining plate.

Trust me on the history of my Britpart HD clutch - Fitted in Sept 09 to my P&J that is driven as gently as possible, never off roaded. The clutch failed after 20,000 miles and went without warning.

Do not leave home without an AA/RAC card in your pocket with this clutch fitted. This part is ****, not fit for purpose and should shame BRITPART.

I personally will never fit any of the TAT ****PART sell - on principle.

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Thanks for the info. I know BritParts quality does vary greatly. Some parts are OK and some not. The quality doesn't seem consistent. I went through three Water temp sender units in less than three years. I bought a Bearmach one in the end which has been fine for a couple of years now. I bought a complete Silencer BritPart system. The first one lasted 12 months. The second one has been one there now for three years and survived a trip across Morocco. I had a BritPart HD clutch fitted this time last year. Touch wood, it seems fine. I know these things can go without warning as did my original one. But that had been on there for 25 years. I'm planning another trip to Morocco next year, if I have to remove transfer box or anything close to the clutch I may well change it. Unless it goes before then. With my French insurance I am covered with relay from Morocco which is some comfort. Watch this space.