TD4 Clutch pedal up too high

Its a rainy cold night and the mrs tells me at 9pm that the Freelander TD4 (o5reg) clutch pedal has popped up and is about 2in above the brake pedal.

I've had a quick look at the pedal under the dash and can see that there is a circlip dangling on the shaft into the master cylinder. Its a bit dark to see clearly but I couldn't see the groove where the circlip is supposed to locate. This clip being loose, allows the pedal to come up higher.

I've had a seach on the site and seen this problem mentioned a bit.

Questions:
Can the circlip be put back in? or has something worn or broken?
If the master cylinder has to be changed, I need to disconnect the fluid line at the connector. Does the system need bleeding after this?

Regards, Rich

circlip is probably broken, so it won.t go back

Problem is if it's the circlip from the cylinder you would probably have to remove the cylinder to get access to refit it. But, when you disconnect the pushrod from the pedal there's a chance that the piston will come out of the cylinder. You'll just have to see if you can keep it together somehow while you twist the cylinder out from the bulkhead.

If you do end up changing the cylinder the coupling is self sealing so you shouldn't have to bleed but sometimes they don't work too well and bleeding is then necessary.

Ah at last an explanation of why my clutch pedal is up too high. For now to deal with it I have shaped a square piece of wood to fit the square hole where some useless brake switch sensor goes ( this doesn't appear to do anything) and that stops the excess travel of the clutch pedal. Obviously I am going to have to remove the master cylinder at some point.

If it's a Brit part one the clips inside break easily. I had one go when i first got the Freelander and didn't know the extent of the crapness of britpart lol. Got a LUK one now and it's a diffrent car. Clutch is much nicer and lost most of the dead spot you get on some freelanders.