Low biting point on clutch

Hi. I'm new to the forum - I only got my Freelander yesterday.

The biting point on the clutch is low but the gears still select without problems. I'm guessing the clutch is hydaulic and not adjustable. Is there any way I could raise the biting point by renewing the hydraulic system or something like that?

Thanks for any advice.

Had similar recently but mines a defender td5. It was my clutch master cylinder that was the problem. Topping up with fluid helped for a bit but dropped to the floor eventually. 2 hours on Sunday and new cylinder in and new fluid in and bled.

Somebody with more specific knowledge will be along in a minute I'm sure

It will pay to lubricate clutch arm where it enters bellhousing, also slave cyl. bracket might be bending or broken!

Thanks I'll have a look tomorrow.

What's the mileage? Checking the master cylinder as huffhuff mention is a good idea, so is what freelance said. Other than that, it seems to be how they are once the clutch gets some miles (I just had a new clutch fitted and the difference is like night and day).

The mileage is 110,000. Would replacing the hydraulic system make any difference? I saw a guide on youtube and it seemed to improve a lot on the owners Freelander.

You can buy a kit with all the parts off eBay.

Replacing the master cylinder is easy enough, but if there's a problem with the slave then that's a gearbox off job and you might as well do the clutch at the same time.

How can you tell if there's a problem with the slave?

I'm guessing doing the clutch is a really big job?

Mines always been low with the biting point, but never had any probs with gears, its done 85000 now and its been no different since 64000 and 3 years of normal driving and towing 1.5 ton .

KatieKat said:

How can you tell if there's a problem with the slave?

I'm guessing doing the clutch is a really big job?

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What engine and what year is it Katie? This information is needed to be able to pinpoint your problem
You're not far from me so you could always drop round for me to take a look.

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum, and am not sure the etiquette, but I didn't want to start a new thread when there was an active thread with a similar problem to the one I'm having going on. Don't want to hijack, so sorry if I am.

I've recently come to own a freelander td4, before I got my hands on it, it had a new pressure plate and clutch plate, master cylinder and slave cylinder with release bearing. This was done as it became impossible to change gear.
Anyway, the chap who did the work is a bit unreliable and hard to get hold of and had just dumped the car back on my drive with no word or email or text.
So I had a look, and it seems the work has been done it that all the hoses and pipes look new, I assume he's put the new clutch bits in the bell housing.
So I try to drive and the clutch won't disengage. I get the bits together and have a look, and lo and behold no fluid. I go and buy some and dig out a bit of pipe and a funnell, put some fluid in, bleed it accordingly with the guide I found in this forum, and try again. I can now drive but the clutch release point is super low, like right on the floor. What would the advice be?

Thanks.

See my other threads on this - basically the piston in the master does not easily bleed as the pedal never pushes it full travel. That is probs why they are pre-bled.

Also - you can improve things by lengthening the pushrod slightly - 4 mm as the capacity required to operate the slave is not met by the movement of the master cylinder. Please see my other threads to save retyping - many TD4 clutch issues I read can be sorted in this way.

andyfreelandy said:

See my other threads on this - basically the piston in the master does not easily bleed as the pedal never pushes it full travel. That is probs why they are pre-bled.

Also - you can improve things by lengthening the pushrod slightly - 4 mm as the capacity required to operate the slave is not met by the movement of the master cylinder. Please see my other threads to save retyping - many TD4 clutch issues I read can be sorted in this way.

Click to expand...

Brilliant. I'll have a look at your previous threads in the morning. Really appreciate the help. Will they be easy to find?

Will they be easy to find?

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https://www.landyzone.co.uk/search/815334/?q=clutch+master+cylinder&o=relevance&c[user][0]=48966

above search results :
search button top right of page .. insert into required fields ..
' clutch master cylinder ' .. plus username .. ' andyfreelandy '

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hd3 said:

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/search/815334/?q=clutch+master+cylinder&o=relevance&c[user][0]=48966

above search results :
search button top right of page .. insert into required fields ..
' clutch master cylinder ' .. plus username .. ' andyfreelandy '

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Click to expand...

Brilliant thanks. I've had a good read over breakfast and I think Andy is almost certainly right and it's air trapped in the master cylinder. I tried another bleed this morning just to make sure it wasn't cack-handedness on my part but again, no air bubbles or grit or anything.
I'm going to try the suggestion of leaving the clutch pedal pushed in for a few hours and just use the defender today as it needs a run out. If that seemingly bizarre trick does not work, I'll unhook the master cylinder and do that test, then it's another 40 quid on a new master cylinder if we get to that point.
Thanks for everyone being so welcoming and helpful.

Another victory for keeping the clutch down overnight. Well all night and nearly all day today. It's still a bit low, so given time I'll probably do what Andy suggested and extend the push rod, but I'm pleased.

Good ! Like I said the operating piston does not go to the bottom of the cylinder on the master due to a short rod and the plastic cap at the top. SO - air is always trapped in the cylinder. Removing the push rod and manually forcing the piston to the bottom is fiddly but better than leaving the pedal pressed overnight. Glad you have had some success and it is now drive able at least !

andyfreelandy said:

Good ! Like I said the operating piston does not go to the bottom of the cylinder on the master due to a short rod and the plastic cap at the top. SO - air is always trapped in the cylinder. Removing the push rod and manually forcing the piston to the bottom is fiddly but better than leaving the pedal pressed overnight. Glad you have had some success and it is now drive able at least !

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm glad it's driveable too. Hopefully it'll be a nice long dry summer and I can tinker away to my hearts content.