Clutch Slave Popped - Root Causes?

Been lurking here for a while, but am finally off tomorrow morning to have a look at a Freelander 1 1.8 whose 'clutch has popped'.

I've had a search about and see that the problem most likely stems from a seized actuator arm, but is there anything else that the goosed hydraulics may be hiding?

When asked about what had happened the seller described it as "the clutch was working fine, just difficult to get in gear, which made us initially think it could be a gearbox problem but on asking mechanic who did brakes he reckoned it was the clutch slave cylinder at fault, then it made a huge pop and clutch pedal has to be pulled back up an won't go into any gear now!"

So I'll check the state of the slave bracket, if I decide to take the car I'll soak the rod in WD40 and go order a replacement hydraulic setup. Hopefully if I then return to fit the hydraulics, the rod will free off after its dousing and some fiddling.
Is the replacement as self explanatory as it's made out to be? Air-box out of the way and I should be able to see what I'm doing?

Any advice would be appreciated - perhaps a bit premature, since it's going to depend on what the 'big envelope of receipts and paperwork' shows up as having been done on the 120k miles 1999 vehicle!

Hi and welcome.
The release lever / arm can seize in the bell casing bush. This causes the bearing to wear prematurely and overloads the slave bracket and cylinder. Eventually the bracket bends so much it allows the cylinder to twist and the piston pop.
You need to free up the release arm first then replace the slave bracket and the whole hydraulics assembly.

Cheers, that's what I was thinking along the lines of.

Anything else to think about clutch-wise whilst I'm checking it over?
Don't want to turn this into a 'buying guide' thread - I managed to find the search button! - but am slightly concerned that with no hydraulics at all by the sounds of it, then it'll be tricky to judge if there's been another fault.
Or is it just the sticking rod that leads to the popping slave and the clutch itself stays unharmed?

The clutch plate should be fine as the hydraulics on the 1.8 are external so flipuid contamination is not an issue.

usually the bracket where the slave sits crack and then the slave comes of like my wife's did, but before she phoned me she pulled the clutch peddle back up and tried again thus dismembering the slave . I new plate and system as they are all in one and everything was ok. they are easy to do the hardest part is getting the pin out of the clutch peddle .then twist the master cylinder about 45% and then pull out then undo the slave (just one clip) and if the plate has had it undo the bolts and then put it all back together , don't for get the tubing goes under the steering arms inside engine bay , and do not be tempted to take the cap off the master cylinder , these are sealed for life.
Good luck hope this helps

Thanks for all your advice, had a look this morning and decided to go for it!

Slave/master/bracket on their way from ebay...

Good stuff mate!

Was in a similar position to you recently, replaced master/slave cylinder complete with new bracket, silicon spray on the release arm into the bell housing, also on gear linkages.

Easy job to do really and ran like a dream after.

4 weeks later, Not so good at the minute, difficult to select 1st and reverse.

So my advice based on what I think my problem is to you is to go town on the release arm as im sure my problems are due to that!! stay away from silicon spray unless you want to do it every 4 weeks!

On a side note, feck knows what is best to use to lubricate it!!!!!!

Well, I'm off to fit the new clutch hydraulics and hopefully bring the Freelander home tomorrow morning. :crazy_driver:

Might even manage some pictures on the way!

Only thing I'm not sure about at the moment is releasing the master cylinder from the pedal and what needs disassembled to get at it.

Wish me luck!

I am sure it is just clips on, take a torch with you also one tip do not take the plastic holder of the end of the shaft on the slave until you have it in position or it will push its self out .

Went off to collect the car this morning.
Had a good poke around, got the old setup off, discovered a new slave bracket already fitted! Sprayed the actuator with more WD40, wiggled it with a pry bar.
Stuck on the new system - with a bit of fiddling. Tentatively tried the clutch and ping! Cracked the slave collar off in two places...
I've now spent a full half hour with 3in1 oil, WD40 and Copaslip loosening off the actuator. It no longer seems like it's seized.
However, £50 seems a fair whack to be spending each time I want to see if I've freed the actuator assembly.
I'm thinking a couple of second-hand slaves to have at hand and then if I get six weeks without an issue (having kept on with lubricating the arm) I'll splash out on another new set-up.
Anybody see any issues with that approach? I know it's a sealed system, but surely I'll be able to get most of the air out with a bit of care?

The release arm must be loose when moved by hand or the slave is overloaded. If you can't move it by hand don't fit the slave.

well I would imagine that if you put the slave down low and put the master up in the air then any trapped air would rise ,it makes common-sense but do not know if it would work

Hi Nodge, thanks for the advice so far, but when you say it must move 'by hand' do you mean that by pressing the actuator lever you should be able to pretty much activate the clutch - or just that the rod should be clearly moving?
I'm now getting a bit of movement if waggling the arm by hand - it doesn't feel seized to me, more that it gets to the stage where any slack has been taken up and I'd be pressing against the clutch springs to go any further.
I've managed to pick up a second hand slave this afternoon, so will give it a go on Friday morning and see if I can see it working a bit better.
Thanks for all the help so far!

which bit broke, The plastic clip that holds the slave in the bracket?
If so you can get replacements of them on their own.

mines tie wrapped in and has been like that all the time i've owned it, 3 1/2 years now.

It's the 'collar' the C-clip butts up against that's gone. The shaped part that keeps it in rotational position.You could get the C-clip on but as soon as there was any pressure put on the slave it just popped out again.
I was getting 'help' from the previous owner as I fitted the system - very keen but a bit quick to decide 'that's it' !!
I'll try cable ties before I go ahead with the s/h slave idea.
I'm working a wee bit blind - having to go by what was hanging off the car - so am assuming the last set-up was fitted correctly...

The Docmeister said:

Hi Nodge, thanks for the advice so far, but when you say it must move 'by hand' do you mean that by pressing the actuator lever you should be able to pretty much activate the clutch - or just that the rod should be clearly moving?
I'm now getting a bit of movement if waggling the arm by hand - it doesn't feel seized to me, more that it gets to the stage where any slack has been taken up and I'd be pressing against the clutch springs to go any further.
I've managed to pick up a second hand slave this afternoon, so will give it a go on Friday morning and see if I can see it working a bit better.
Thanks for all the help so far!

Click to expand...

There should be some slack movement, not much but some. It is possible the release the clutch by hand using a lever.
This seizing is a very common problem on all PG1 boxes. All Rovers, MGs and some Honda models suffer from it. It's easily kept at bay by the addition of 2 drops of engine oil applied to the bushing every time the engine oil is changed.
If you can't get it to free up properly then the box will have to come off. If this is the case, the top and bottom bush can be cleaned and lubricated with a Moly based grease. The clutch bearing slide should be lubed with Moly grease too.

I'm having trouble finding somewhere to get enough leverage on my pry-bar for more than a few centimetres.
There is a bit of slack that you can feel literally by hand if shoogling the lever from underneath, then it gets stiff enough to need the bar on it - and at that point I can shift it maybe a couple more centimetres before running out of leverage space.

I've been out to my 'new' 1.8 Freelander tonight to start investigating what's up with it. I bought it from a damaged car auction with "DO NOT START ENGINE" scrawled over the windscreen. Under the bonnet the air filter and pipes have been removed and are sitting in the boot. The clutch hydraulics installed are brand spanking - new bracket slave etc - its obviously never even pushed the release lever.

The top of the release lever arm is nowhere near the end of the slave rod. It is siezed, but siezed in a position that to me looks like it would never reach with the clutch pedal fully pushed down - I don't think the rod would extend that far. It is almost touching the lip around the bell housing where the mounting bolts are.

I've had a look on the PG1 on my L Series and 'at rest' the rod is a lot more retracted than on the K - I presume someone has installed it, pressed the pedal to break the retaining clip and it is now fully extended on its spring - but as say, it is still miles away from the lever! I haven't had someone press the clutch pedal while I look at the cylinder, so I don't know how far it should extend/rotate the level.

Does anyone have any ideas how the lever could be sized so far rotated?

I'm also wondering it there might not even be a clutch in there it is so far rotated. Is it possible that the release lever might be connected to the release fork in the wrong (rotated) posititon? (eg 10 o'clock instead of 12 o'clock). I've never had a gearbox off, so don't know how the bits fit together.

Having found this thread, I'll try and get some lubricant on it tomorrow and get some leverage on it to see if I can get it moving.

You just know that you are going to have to START ENGINE don't you?