engine stuck to gearbox!

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IrieLandy

Member
Posts
88
Location
County Clare, Republic Of Ireland
Hello all...

am splitting engine and box on defender 90 - or at least trying to - in order to find out what went wrong with my clutch...

have removed all the nuts but the engine will not budge from the gearbox, have been hoisting and wiggling it most of the day. I'm a bit wary of doing anything to heavy with a hammer since the bellhousing is alloy and the last thing i want to do is crack it. Does anyone have any tips??

The clutch problem appears to be either something to do with the release fork or the bearing, have had the slave cylinder out and the operating rod apears to be moving the fork back and forth but no resistance from the clutch so can only conclude either the "slipper" pads have broken off and the release fork is going past the bearing or the bearing itself has broken. could there be any chance that whatever has gone wrong with the clutch assembly might be stopping the engine and box from coming apart?

thanks in advance.
 
First check you have all the bellhousing nuts undone, there should be 11 of them, some are well hidden! Dont use a hammer. If you jack up the gearbox and then let the engine down a bit (assuming you have taken off engine mounts and brackets), you should see a gap begin to appear and can then work from there. Re clutch, you may find your clutch rod has punched a hole through the clutch lever but should not stop engine coming off gearbox.
 
thanks...

it's the engine i'm taking out. all 11 nuts have been removed. engine mounts off, gearbox is supported by trolley jack, have tried letting tension out of hoist to see if the weight of the engine will start it splitting - no joy, not a single mm. in fact have even stood on engine as much as i dare and done a funny dance... to no avail! Something's not right! have had engine out twice before and never had this problem - did i use liquid steel instead of gasket seal? i think not! Even used ratchet strap round back of engine then tried winching it forward to a tree - no luck, had to stop when it started pulling the whole vehicle forward!

mightily perplexed!:mad:
 
hi all...
OK... engine's out, i jacked the gearbox as far up as it would go (right on the bellhousing where it joins the engine to create a good pivot point) then stood on the thermostat elbow (being the furthest point at the other end of the engine - maximum leverage) and did a vigorous little jig - hey presto... engine split from gearbox, making a sound similar to a very large jar of jam being opened (presume the gasket seal created a vacuum).

Probably not the safest or most intelligent solution, but it did the trick. Fortunately i'm a skinny f**cker, but if you weigh more than say 80kg you might want to think twice about standing on the thermostat elbow!

Thanks for the help satchmolips - you put me on the right track!

By the way, i now know what caused my clutch problem... a company called Britpart! The crappy release forks they sell are good for nothing... DONT GO THERE, in fact, unless it's a mudflap bracket or something equally non-critical, Britpart are not to be bothered with, i dont care how cheap they are! I know i'm mostly preaching to the converted here anyway but there's no harm in re-iterating the point!! They dont call 'em SH*TPART for nothing... anyway... what's happened is the fork has worn through at the pivot, so i now have the pivot stickin through the release fork and a fair bit of chiseling, pulling and levering to get the damn thing off. Still, i look forward to doing some real damage to the piece of crap once i do get it off! Maybe i'll take some pictures and send them to britpart... like thay give a damn!

Cant wait for my REAL release fork to turn up!
 
you dont need sealer around joint its better without even wading ,i use plenty of penertrating oil and leave weight on gearbox from engine
 
you try and fit that fork from rimmers onto any 4cylinder 90 ,cast iron fork fits series morors ,v8 boxes and td5s ,the britpart fork with out added strengthener is std for all the rest,so BEWARE
 
jamesmartin said:
you try and fit that fork from rimmers onto any 4cylinder 90 ,cast iron fork fits series morors ,v8 boxes and td5s ,the britpart fork with out added strengthener is std for all the rest,so BEWARE
Click to expand...

oh bugger!

actually the one i ordered is this one from paddocks: Clutch Release Fork

are you saying this wont fit? it's listed as a defender part.... i know i'd feel a heck of a lot happier with a good chunk of metal in there rather than a flimsy bit of sheet metal... the britpart may be "standard" but it only took 18 months to break.
 
paddocks are a bit **** at listing products on their site ye it says defender but as above i believe its only td5s and specific v8 gboxes - which you do get in defenders
 
did yours have the bit of metal welded across pivot point like the britpart one you showed as it normally cures problem most of us have been welding our own bits on for a good while to std forks this one you cant blame britpart for even though alot of patern stuff from any supllier is **** now but they do sell cheap genuine parts v8/series fork wont fit your box,it is defender td5 or v8 defender not 4cylinder
 
ok... i'm now fairly befuddled!

it looks as if the nice chunky release forks will only fit V8 or Td5 defenders...

so i now have a choice of 1. cheap britpart "standard" release fork... been there done that, wore out in 18 months... 2. britpart "heavy duty" release fork with plate welded on the back... which begs the question: what happens when the plate breaks too? or 3. "genuine" release fork which looks no different to the britpart although its the most expesive of the three. could it be they use a better quality of steel, or thicker?

According to the old addage "you get what you pay for" it would seem most prudent to go for the "genuine" part, although i do wonder if the so-called V8/TD5 fork would actually fit a 200tdi, guess i'll know when it turns up.
 
weld your own on britpart or genuine fork ,ive never heard of h/d one going ,check pivot as probably not a good smooth ball which will speed any fork on its way,sometimes its the cheap bits and sometimes its not quite fully understanding why something happens,pivot does come out of bearing guide so you dont need to buy whole just pivot,plus lubricate when fitting not guide pivot,guides best left dry
 
Forks Sake! And just to make matters more confusing the listing says it'll fit a V8 as well!

Thanks storm... but will it last? Even two years would be an improvement!

So why is it theres plenty of landy's about 10+ years old that have never had to have clutch fork or even clutch replaced, if the original part is so "flawed"?!

Are even the so-called genuine parts the same as would have been fitted in the factory - what about variations in quality of steel? Anyone who's got tools over 20 years old will know what i mean.
 
it happens with genuine forks as much as any check pivot as its what wears through fork pressed steel fork isnt for v8s you cant take take parts book info passed on by parts sellers as gospel
 
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