Is it Bad News???

Hi all,

Bought a Defender 90 Pickup today. I've had a few Land Rovers in the past and this one looks a great bet. I've driven it twice before deciding to buy it and it went really well both times. No issues at all

Driving it home today, it started really well and felt great for the 1st couple of hours but when I was nearing home the travel of the clutch has increased significantly. I'm having to press it nearly to the floor to get a gear change and its "crunching" through 1st and 2nd slightly.

Is the clutch shot or is there another explanation??

Any help appreciated!

DefenderChris said:

Hi all,

Bought a Defender 90 Pickup today. I've had a few Land Rovers in the past and this one looks a great bet. I've driven it twice before deciding to buy it and it went really well both times. No issues at all

Driving it home today, it started really well and felt great for the 1st couple of hours but when I was nearing home the travel of the clutch has increased significantly. I'm having to press it nearly to the floor to get a gear change and its "crunching" through 1st and 2nd slightly.

Is the clutch shot or is there another explanation??

Any help appreciated!

Click to expand...

sounds like slave or master cylinder, has the fluid level dropped in reservoir as air maybe getting in

I haven't checked to be honest, will have a look when its light tomorrow. There was no Fluid on the clutch pedal shaft or in the foot well which I've read is a clue if the Master cylinder is leaking.

Need to investigate further tomorrow I think.

Thanks for your help.

would put money on slave leaking or master maybe just letting by, way to test is pump the pedal and put in gear hold down and see if clutch starts to bite after a bit of time

It sounds like slave cylinder and I changed mine last month its not a big job and look at Busterbus'es guides on here to see how its done, assuming thats the problem.

Master cylinder failure does not always cause fluid to run down the pedal - it depends what has failed - if it is just the piston seal then the fluid will just bypass the piston (like a snaped piston ring on an engine).

If your loosing fluid then its going to be the slave

If the fluid is staying up its the master

Hope for you sake your loosing fluid!

Slave cylinder chaning is easy (as long as the nuts come off easily enough) - get a gunson easy bleed if your on your own - much quicker than pump the pedal! - Mine was the same the guy i got it off obviously toped it up before selling it to me - kept topping it up for a year and a half before it went fully.

I had this problem a couple of months ago, the steel fluid pipe going into the slave cylinder was perrished, causing loss of fluid and after a few miles no clutch! you need to get underneath it and have a look, the slave cylinder is mounted on the gearbox on the nearside, theres not much room between it and the chassis.

Check the damper unit as well there prone to leaking. its the next to the slave and its the round item directly nect to it. i had massive problems with one on my Disco. iva etaken it off my V8 landy with no affects.

OK, I had a similar problem, although it hadn't actually start causing me any problems because I caught it whilst the clutch still had just enough travel. Basically, there was no fluid in the reservoir, and air had got in to the system. I topped it up with fluid, and bled the clutch, and 2 months later, it's still fine, so you might not have an enormous problem at all! Did you check the fluids before you set off?

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Been out today and had a good look under the bonnet and underneath. There was no fluid in the reservoir and when i got underneath there does seem to be liquid around the slave cylinder so looks like thats the one.

Thanks again.