Help pls - Clutch ? Banging and black smoke!

I have a 2003 TD5 who is feeling her age

Today going up a steep and long hill halfway up accelerating away she suddenly starts clattering like a tractor very loudly, revs shooting up in a juddery fashion and still accelerating but at a snails pace it felt like she had lost traction - Looked in the rear view to see nothing but thick cloud of dark grey smoke. This clatttering and banging went on until I changed down to second and therefore taking my foot off the accelerator to change gear then back on to drive away up the hill. She then drove the rest of the route home fine not that I dared push her hard as was on Exmoor in thick fog and not the sort of place one wants to break down and have a long walk to the nearest phone as mobiles aren't renown for getting signal around here!

I have spoken to two mechanics one said clutch and £1500 the other said turbo pipe . Any one here had the same problem or have any suggestions?

I have booked her in for a diagnostic plug in next weds and until then I will be driving essential journeys only and very gently.

have you checked air filter and pipe from it

Sadly it would appear not that simple......

Oil dip stick a good 5 inches up......friendly chap popped in today and said he will try and replace the O rings and copper washers on the injectors again but did that last July with genuine ones so would be suprised if they had gone so quickly! So he uttered the terrible words if that doesn't work it's your Cylinder head........ Can anyone offer and kind words and offer me any hope that if it isn't the seals then there could be another possible problem other than the Cylinder head ??? Nice man at Rimmers spoke large numbers at me which made my legs quiver and said TD5's have a know weakness with Cylinder heads!

Now thinking I may need to look into getting a Defender instead are they any more reliable and affordable to repair ?

Discodivi said:

Now thinking I may need to look into getting a Defender instead are they any more reliable and affordable to repair ?

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Not if you get a TD5 one

Best way to tell if its the clutch is to try and pull away in 4th, if it stalls then its not the clutch

Discodivi said:

Sadly it would appear not that simple......

Oil dip stick a good 5 inches up.....

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Suggesting diesel in the sump - a lot of diesel. Regardless of the clutch having an issue or not, then I believe you should not drive the Disco anymore: There's a chance the engine will decide to go into a runaway and destroy itself

DIFFLOCK66 said:

Suggesting diesel in the sump - a lot of diesel. Regardless of the clutch having an issue or not, then I believe you should not drive the Disco anymore: There's a chance the engine will decide to go into a runaway and destroy itself

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Saw that happen on a Td5 a few weeks ago,there was that much smoke a passer by called the fire brigade,engine was totalled.

Oh don't worry she hasn't moved all day and the nice mechanic man who did a home visit told me all about the dangers of runaway engines and them going bang

He is going to try and do the seals again but I am guessing from having spent the afternoon reading up on Cylinders heads on this site I am doomed to spending my life savings on getting her back on the road.

The clattering juddering banging black smoke incident yesterday was pretty hairy. Am I going to have to risk it happening again once the seals changed with possibly more severe consequences or can she be tested to see what is going on re the Cylinder? I am booked in with the LR Garage next week for a diagnostic but will this show up on the machines? A friend has advised it probably won't and I may be wasting my time and money?

And if I am driving along and my engine goes demented again what do I do? How long do I have to depart the car and extract all four children / animals etc before she explodes ? And if that happens I she a total write off ?

Thankfully I have been offered the loan of a Defender series 1 for a few weeks while the Disco's fete is revealed / decided!

Discodivi said:

And if I am driving along and my engine goes demented again what do I do? How long do I have to depart the car and extract all four children / animals etc before she explodes ? And if that happens I she a total write off ?

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Stop as soon as you can. Jam on the brakes select 5th then just stall it.

DIFFLOCK66 said:

Stop as soon as you can. Jam on the brakes select 5th then just stall it.

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with a slipping clutch

What could go wrong.......!!

Oh joy, thanks guys feeling uber confident now!!

Cylinder head circa £1500
Clutch / flywheel circa £1000
what I have already spent on brakes / pads/ oil / seals and other minor blips last year £1000

Bloody car is only worth £5K What would you do ?

I think I need a large drink!

here bit cheaper!

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY TD5 RECONDITIONED CYLINDER HEAD | eBay

Thank you

Oh and I nearly forgot I need to get something to do with the ABS modulaotr box as I have the dreaded 3 Amigos intermittently pinging away at me shall we add another grand for that to be sorted ?

Discodivi said:

Thank you

Oh and I nearly forgot I need to get something to do with the ABS modulaotr box as I have the dreaded 3 Amigos intermittently pinging away at me shall we add another grand for that to be sorted ?

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you need to get the codes read first,could be a sensor or at worst modulator shuttle valve failure which is a reasonably easy fix
search shuttle valve either here or at Thed2boysclub

Diagnostic machine came up with modulator box error and I was told this is a sticky valve inside the box?? Is there anyone Nr Taunton who could try and repair my box as on the Land Rover V I link ?

Recommendations appreciated

Discodivi said:

What could go wrong.......!!

Oh joy, thanks guys feeling uber confident now!!

Cylinder head circa £1500
Clutch / flywheel circa £1000
what I have already spent on brakes / pads/ oil / seals and other minor blips last year £1000

Bloody car is only worth £5K What would you do ?

I think I need a large drink!

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Find some nice deep flood water to drive through

COUGH!!!! COUGH!!!!!!

As the old girl is currently under garage arrest unfortunately that is not an option that aside when our previous village was flooded and silly sods did just that I was under the impression it was not claimable on the insurance as they did a daft thing so to speak ?? Is this true ?

I did think that a local farmer had had his 4wd nicked when he left the keys in the ignition so I could try the same with the old girl......Thing is they wouldnt get very far LOL she would go bang big style which may teach the b**gers a lesson !!!! BUT again you arent covered for insurance if keys left in the ignition strangely enough !!

fill it with water! er well it's a disco so should already be wet! then tell the insurance you been in a flood, had it recovered and so on, i would think insurance accessors will be that busy they may even not come out!!
ive never said this! but i bet it has been done! many a time!

Discodivi said:

As the old girl is currently under garage arrest unfortunately that is not an option that aside when our previous village was flooded and silly sods did just that I was under the impression it was not claimable on the insurance as they did a daft thing so to speak ?? Is this true ?

I did think that a local farmer had had his 4wd nicked when he left the keys in the ignition so I could try the same with the old girl......Thing is they wouldnt get very far LOL she would go bang big style which may teach the b**gers a lesson !!!! BUT again you arent covered for insurance if keys left in the ignition strangely enough !!

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It seems that most vehicles that have driven through flood water and then claim on the insurance do so at night and after driving around a blind bend where they are unable to stop in time according to the majority of people that I pick up.

left hander? or right hander?