SIIa clutch advice

Hi,

My clutch broke by itself while my Landy was standing unused during last winter. First it was locked solid and i could not move the car (clutch plate rusted to flywheel?). I was adviced to pull the Landy with another car to loosen the clutch. The clutch disengaged and i managed to push the car out of my driveway.

Couple of months later I decided to have a look at the car and see if I could get it running. Well, the clutch is not locked but the clutch pedal was solid, like it was rusted solid. After some spirited pressing the pedal broke loose. Now it feels normal but the clutch does not work at all. When car is running I cannot engage any gears when it is not no problem.

The fluid reservoir is full. I suspect either main or slave cylinder is the culprit but which one? What else could be wrong?

All advice how to best proceed fixing the problem is appreciated. Naturally I don't have a indoor place to do this.

Thanks!

first guess would be yer master cylinder because you don't say if there is a visable leak. if it was mine i'd replace both cylinders due to them having been stood fer so long..rubber seals don't like sitting about doing nowt for long periods.

Hi and thanks.

No, there is no visible leaks at all and the reservoir level has not dropped either That is what makes it a bit difficult to figure out - no clear clues. However, as the pedal was stuck it does point a bit to the main cyl. But yes, I think its better to change them both too. The car is 40 years old and spend first 20+ at hard work as a goverment phone company service vehicle above arctic circle, I suspect both cylinders are still original.

Ordered new parts last night. Hope the clutch assembly itself is still alive.

you know it makes sense... if yer clutch is a bit sticky just give it dogs abuse fer about 10 mins that should sort it out.. i'd be checking the brake cylinders at the same time cos they wont have done much either and are just as likely to be fooked.

Yes, I guess they are. Well, I ordered new cylinders and will change them as soon as they arrive. The clutch does not work at all now so I hope that sorts it out.

I ripped the floors and center tunnel bits out to find the slave cylinder. The box looks exactly like the one in my green book but the slave cyl wasn't where I expected it to be. The books pic shows it standing up on right side of the bellhousing. Mine seems to point forward on the left side??

Did I find the correct part or do I need to take it more apart? At least it has a hose and a bleeder nipple

Mine is LHD by the way. Here is couple of pics to show you what I see.

ah think yule find thats a ser111 box.

Ah goddamit, that I was afraid of when I saw the cyl where it is but didn't dare to say it outloud!! Are you positive?

Hope I can still hold my order so I can get the right parts!

Here is another view.

pretty sure but i'm sure someone that has a 11a will put you right or maybe one of the anoraks will help out.

Thanks! You know more about this stuff than I so you are most likely right.

I looked at the Ser III manual but my luck - no picture of the complete box or even the location of the slave cyl. But it seems that the cyl is pointing forward like mine. The cyl in the manual is a bit different though, the bleeding nipple is angled back when mine point front but I guess the design might have changed during years.

I'll ask for confirmation from somewhere so I can get the right part. Thanks again.

PS. anoraks?

anoraks as defined in the oxbridge dictionary...

Anorak:.....: person that can sprout all statistics for a given vehickel since the first prototype was dreamt up, also able to contradict what your eye has seen by saying "thats not standard mate! that year should have a hicky flop differential valve and not the omm foo foo splitter on it. isn't that right nigel?"

LOL! I think I have met few of those during the years

And thanks again Slob, I got a confirmation and my box is indeed out of a SIII like you pointed out. Hope my message to parts vendor was in time so they can replace the slave with a correct one.

Hi, I was looking to find the best way to bleed the clutch and came across your thread. I agree with Slob, it is a SIII gearbox (or at least a SIII bell housing). My son's SIII had exactly the same problem, it had stood some time and the clutch pedal was *solid*. I pressed real hard, the pedal eventually went to the floor, and stayed there. I pulled it up, pressed it again - easier this time. It stayed down, pulled it up again, pressed a third time, *bang* - pedal went down to the floor with no resistance. Dismantling revealed a bent and finally snapped master cylinder pushrod. Fixed this and didn't have to touch the hydralics or adjustment. My theory is that the clutch had somehow extended itself to full travel with expansions and contractions of the fluid due to ambient temperature changes over time. Why don't you try slackening the
bleeder or a pipe union to see if there is any built up pressure? If there is it will then probably be fine.

Yes it seems like SIII box according to its serial # too. And I've been double clutching all the time with it. Don't even know if the syncros work By the way, I have a LHD car so the master cylinder is under the front wing and cannot be reached properly without removing the wing

I ordered new cylinders for it a day before I was adviced that it is a SIII box. Too late to alter the order so now I have a wrong slave and a new order in for the correct one.

I decided to take the whole box out and replace the leaking gaskets, syncs and probably bearings too and obviously the clutch.

It was easy to take the front driveshaft bolts but the rear proved a difficult one in the trans brake end. None of my tools fitted. Its been raining badly for days now but when its dry I will try again. I will detach the shaft from the diff end and try to manipulate it so I get more room for my tools.

Well it's quite a big job to get the box out and the bits might be costly too. I liked this page;
http://www.lrfaq.org/Series/NL.DB_easyclutchrepair.html
sums up Land Rovers!

Yes, that link pretty much sums up my experience too

Actually I think taking out the box is not so bad job. Quite straightforward job with mostly bolts to undo. Then a friend to help me lift it out.

The box itself its the thing that worries me a bit. I have done engines before but not tackled boxes as they feel complicated. But after doing some research on the matter it seems doable and indeed many first timers have done their Landy boxes with success with help of books and forums.

Parts: full overhaul kit witch includes everything needed for the box (if the actual gears are ok) costs £90 and for transfer box £60 (+VAT). Good quality clutch package is somewhere in region of £85+VAT. Not cheap but hopefully once in a lifetime investment.

Well if you feel it needs it do it, but oil leaks are standard, they make it so you can get the bolts out! If your problem is the same as my son's it was just a new pushrod that was needed, it worked fine after that. Good luck! By the way, in my IIa I was able to lift the gearbox and Xfer box up from the floor to get it back in (I bought it without the g/box). I don't know if you will be able to lower it to the ground like that to get it out. I think it's probably always best to get the seat box out.

With my clutch sure the main cylinder is at fault but I suspect the clutch assembly is in need of renewing too. I think it knocked sometimes and the release bearing was noisy for sure. Then the clutch itself stuck to the flywheel and finally the master cyl stuck also.

So, I feel that the clutch itself will need attention too and if I need to move the box back anyway to change the clutch its not so big of a job to take it out completely.

Yes, I already took the floor boards and center tunnel off and will unbolt the seat base too.

Hi there.
I have a series 2a with a series 3 box.
Just recently done my clutch slave cylinder,
Its the easiest one to get to - near the bulkhead, under the starter on the right side of the engine.

Id replace that one then see if its right.
Cost me £10 for a recon one.
About £15 new
... buy a new one for what its worth.
I could only get hold of a recon one at the time but so far so good!

Cribbs..

Thanks, yes I did order new cylinders. Recons are not available here so they are not an option. Ordered genuine slave and pattern master - hope they work ok.

Do you have SII master with SIII slave like I do? Do you know if stock SIII clutch hose will work with this combo without modifications?