New clutch lasted 243 miles

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jwrw

Active Member
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Hi everyone. My clutch went a couple of weeks ago (1993 110 200TDi). It started slipping slightly and within about 30 miles I had almost no power. The vehicle had to be recovered to the local Land Rover workshop.

They replaced the clutch with a heavy duty one and checked everything else. All good. Said the new one should last for years, thousands of miles.

Today — 243 miles later — the same thing has happened. It started slipping, got hot, bad smell, no power. Now I’m waiting for a breakdown truck to pick me up.

I’d be grateful for any suggestions for what to check/do next (other than buying another new clutch). Pedal is fine and returns all the way up.

It seems weird that the first clutch lasted since I bought the vehicle in February but the second has gone almost at once. I could accept that maybe the first one was wearing out when I bought the vehicle but there must something else going on. Pretty sure my driving couldn’t wear a clutch out this quickly!

Thanks for reading.
 
Last edited:
Possible there was no free play at clutch master cylinder rod, the result is like someone riding the clutch pedal all the time .
Clutch does not fully engage and so slips some and will wear out quick.
 
tottot said:
Possible there was no free play at clutch master cylinder rod, the result is like someone riding the clutch pedal all the time .
Clutch does not fully engage and so slips some and will wear out quick.
Click to expand...
Yes sounds plausible — although it’s the kind of thing I’d expect a mechanic to check when they were setting up a new clutch. The guy who did it is experienced and trustworthy. Would you expect it to be done at the same time? Maybe I’m wrong.


Thanks for replying.
 
Again no update, so frustrating. I hope he got it sorted, l wonder what the fault was in the end.

My guess would be oil contamination on the clutch, but the mechanic who replaced it should have noticed if that was the case.
 
Sorry — didn’t think to update you.

It’s sorted now. The mechanic said the adjuster (at the master cylinder I assume) was wound right the way out and he hadn’t adjusted it when he fitted the new clutch.

My theory is that the fluid expanded in the hot weather (is that possible?) and with the tight adjustment it made the clutch slip slightly.

The mechanic said he checked the new clutch after sorting the mechanism, and it didn’t need replacing but I’ve got no way of confirming that. I guess it’s probably lost some life but I won’t worry about that.

We’ve done some long journeys since then with no problems so I hope all’s well now.

Thanks again to everyone who responded here.
 
jwrw said:
Sorry — didn’t think to update you.

It’s sorted now. The mechanic said the adjuster (at the master cylinder I assume) was wound right the way out and he hadn’t adjusted it when he fitted the new clutch.

My theory is that the fluid expanded in the hot weather (is that possible?) and with the tight adjustment it made the clutch slip slightly.

The mechanic said he checked the new clutch after sorting the mechanism, and it didn’t need replacing but I’ve got no way of confirming that. I guess it’s probably lost some life but I won’t worry about that.

We’ve done some long journeys since then with no problems so I hope all’s well now.

Thanks again to everyone who responded here.
Click to expand...
I would say it is pretty much impossible to physically check the clutch whilst still in the car, but as you have done a good few miles since then it should be no worries.
 
lynall said:
I would say it is pretty much impossible to physically check the clutch whilst still in the car, but as you have done a good few miles since then it should be no worries.
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Yes. I think “checked” meant that he tried really hard to get it to slip and the engine always stalled.

It feels ok to me — better than it did before the clutch replacement — so I’m happier with it now than I have been since buying the vehicle. Even before the recent problems always felt like it was on the verge of slipping under acceleration. That’s not happening so so I’m happy.
 
I spoke too soon. Driving home today I changed down for a turn. As the clutch pedal came up there was a loud ‘clonk’ (sounded a bit like something falling off although we couldn’t find anything on the road) and I lost all power to the wheels.

It’s now possible to change gear freely without using the clutch, and there’s no power. You can’t stall the engine. The clutch seems to be permanently disengaged. The pedal feels light.

Earlier in the day there was a new slight rattle when in neutral with the pedal up, but it kept disappearing so I didn’t think it was serious.

We’ve been towed to the garage for the mechanic to have a look later in the week. I spoke to him on the phone and he said he suspected a broken half shaft but I’m pretty sure it’s not that. He didn’t have all the information at that point so I can see why he thought that. He suggested trying to drive it with diff lock on but I couldn’t get it to engage.

My son’s theory is that the fork push rod (or fork) has broken in a way that’s holding the clutch apart. Although I’d expect that to be more likely to fail with it engaged.

In the whole of this clutch saga I think the slave cylinder is probably the one thing that hasn’t been replaced. Any thoughts/advice/guesses would be very welcome! Thanks in advance.

(And I promise to send an update here once I know more)
 
lf it was a broken half shaft you should still be able to drive the vehicle if you engage the differential lock.

However if the clutch pedal has gone light, it sounds like something else has failed. It could be the clutch fork, it can wear so the rod goes straight through the fork but in that case the clutch won't disengage so you would not be able to select a gear if the engine was running.
 
lightning said:
lf it was a broken half shaft you should still be able to drive the vehicle if you engage the differential lock.

However if the clutch pedal has gone light, it sounds like something else has failed. It could be the clutch fork, it can wear so the rod goes straight through the fork but in that case the clutch won't disengage so you would not be able to select a gear if the engine was running.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I couldn’t get diff lock to engage — certainly couldn’t get the light to come on. We tried pushing the vehicle backwards and forwards to see if it would engage but I don’t think it helped.

There was a brand new heavy duty fork fitted along with the new clutch (in June) so my guess is that should be ok. But maybe there’s a fault with it or it was fitted wrong.

Feels to me like it’s possible that something (fork or rod) has broken in a way that’s jammed the clutch disengaged. But I don’t know much about how it actually works down there!
 
Rangieman123 said:
Sounds like a busted clutch fork or a collapsed flexi hose which can act like a one way valve....
Click to expand...
Thanks. The hose is an interesting idea but would there be any sound when that failed? This happened with a loud ‘clonk’ which felt more like something giving way under pressure. I imagine the collapsed hose would probably fail silently…?
 
Anaconda said:
Maybe your transfer box has jumped into neutral position,you would lose drive then. Check the lever is in the correct position.
Click to expand...
Thanks. But I tried all of the positions yesterday whilst we were waiting for the recovery truck, and it was the same in all of them. Shame it wasn’t that easy!
 
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