The Happy Camper · Jun 23, 2010

Evening all.

Just got back from our caravanning hols around N.Devon, which as some of you may know, can be a tad on the hilly side. Whilst there, I had to do a rather tasty hillstart with the 'van on the back, resulting in a LOT of smoke from the clutch area, and ended up with the clutch pedal flat on the floor

. The very nice man who got us to our destination said I'd probably "boiled the fluid"

, and the pedal may come back up. It did, and apart from the horrid, putrid stench of boiled sprouts for a few days, all seems to be ok.

However, France awaits in mid August, do I cross fingers and hope that alls ok, or do I take the plunge and fork out for a new clutch for peace of mind ??

Anybody else experienced anything similar, am I now a little paranoid ??

I have a 56 Td4 manual with just 19k, oh and by the way "Greetings to you all!!", my first post.:welcome2:

Andy131 · Jun 23, 2010

Filled the field with smoke on more than a couple of occasions - did eventually kill the clutches.
When it all cools down the pedal will come back, and if you have only done it once should be fine apart from the smell - which will last for a couple of weeks.
Before you contemplate fitting a clutch get a price and make sure you are sitting down,
was quoted £1,000+ for my 13 month old X reg.

matacaibo · Jun 24, 2010

I'm assuming it's an FL1 you've got. It's unlikely that you have done much damage to the clutch plate itself but if the fluid boiled it means the slave cylinder has been very hot. The TD4 slave is actually a doughnut made mostly of rubber that sits around the shaft in the bellhousing, when the clutch friction plate gets hot the shaft conducts the heat to the doughnut. I'm on my 3rd slave cylinder

, it usually lasts a couple of weeks after the pedal "comes back" & then the rubber ruptures & dumps the clutch fluid. The first time I did it ( trying to recover a mates Land Rover ) I got them to replace the whole clutch even though it was only the slave that was knackered, the major part of the bill was for labour (gearbox has to come out ) the parts are relatively cheap but if you decide to go ahead the main stealer will want at least 600 beer tokens

if you are lucky, most independent LR specialists will do it much cheaper. My LR extended warranty covered the first one (apart from the friction plate which wasn't damaged), they weren't so keen to stump up for the second one

. Anyway, I've learnt my lesson & bought a TD4 Auto

.

RichM · Jun 24, 2010

matacaibo said:
I'm assuming it's an FL1 you've got. It's unlikely that you have done much damage to the clutch plate itself but if the fluid boiled it means the slave cylinder has been very hot. The TD4 slave is actually a doughnut made mostly of rubber that sits around the shaft in the bellhousing, when the clutch friction plate gets hot the shaft conducts the heat to the doughnut. I'm on my 3rd slave cylinder , it usually lasts a couple of weeks after the pedal "comes back" & then the rubber ruptures & dumps the clutch fluid. The first time I did it ( trying to recover a mates Land Rover ) I got them to replace the whole clutch even though it was only the slave that was knackered, the major part of the bill was for labour (gearbox has to come out ) the parts are relatively cheap but if you decide to go ahead the main stealer will want at least 600 beer tokens if you are lucky, most independent LR specialists will do it much cheaper. My LR extended warranty covered the first one (apart from the friction plate which wasn't damaged), they weren't so keen to stump up for the second one . Anyway, I've learnt my lesson & bought a TD4 Auto .

This happened to me too. The mechanic inspected the clutch and said there was still life in it. (had it replaced anyway) but the slave cylinder was killed after having to reverse up a very narrow and steep lane in the dark. (Also in Devon!)

Your last comment certainly isn't an overstatement either. It just goes to show that you can land yourself a £600 bill in 5 minutes if you're not careful with your feet.

Andy131 · Jun 24, 2010

My first clutch failed at 13 months - there was no friction lining left on one side of the friction plate. The second on failed in a similar manner at 22 months, again lining failure.
The third clutch was still going strong when I got rid (due to failing IRD) at 28 months and 90+k miles. I never had any problems with the slave cylinder - but know a couple of people who have, and if your going to delve that deep you might as well change the friction lining.

Changing the clutch or two without a lift is not fun, I can understand why it is sooo expensive.
Now on second auto.

matacaibo · Jun 24, 2010

Andy131 said:
My first clutch failed at 13 months - there was no friction lining left on one side of the friction plate. The second on failed in a similar manner at 22 months, again lining failure.
The third clutch was still going strong when I got rid (due to failing IRD) at 28 months and 90+k miles. I never had any problems with the slave cylinder - but know a couple of people who have, and if your going to delve that deep you might as well change the friction lining.

Changing the clutch or two without a lift is not fun, I can understand why it is sooo expensive.
Now on second auto.

If you went through friction plates that fast it could be the flywheel face was scuffed, the second time I had mine done (when I was paying

) they were thinking of changing the flywheel because it was scuffed & had a few high spots, anyway they attacked it with emery cloth & "improved " it but they told me that a scuffed / distorted flywheel can cause premature failure of the clutch plate.

craig_midz · Jun 24, 2010

td4's have dual mass flywheels an when they get really hot it knackers em up but your know if ya dual mass is knackered as you normally get a judderin on the clutch pedal an the slave cylinders on a td4 are a pain as they just float over the input shaft an they do melt ive changed a number of clutchs we do td4s for around 425 thats supply an fit with 2 year warrenty an the 1.8s for around 275 an its a same day service but im in walsall about 10 mins from j10 of the m6

tonyt37 · Jun 24, 2010

Mine doesn't like to push the tin tent backwards up any sort of slope. Reversing onto a pitch a few weeks ago and got "that" smell. Few days later a guy with a Sorrento and a smaller van pulled up next to us. His did the same which made me feel a whole lot better.

gstuart · Jun 24, 2010

hope you dont think im being rude but talking about clutches etc, what would happen when an automatic gearbox fails.

i imagine there would be no other option but to replace the complete gearbox with a recon one, but would hate to find out the cost

matacaibo · Jun 24, 2010

gstuart said:
hope you dont think im being rude but talking about clutches etc, what would happen when an automatic gearbox fails.

i imagine there would be no other option but to replace the complete gearbox with a recon one, but would hate to find out the cost

A recon Jatco box for a Freelander (fitted) would cost just about twice what a main dealer would charge for a complete clutch job. The Jatco box, like all things Freelander is like marmite, you love it or you hate it

The Happy Camper · Jun 26, 2010

Well thanks to all who replied - I'm still really not sure what to do here. We travelled home problem free (avoiding any steep hills), and have had no problems since. It's a bit of a pain not being able to visually check without taking half of the car apart !! A friend suggested as the fluid may have boiled, it might be an idea to drain the system and put some dot 5.1 in. Thoughts ??

storm99 · Jun 26, 2010

The Happy Camper said:
Well thanks to all who replied - I'm still really not sure what to do here. We travelled home problem free (avoiding any steep hills), and have had no problems since. It's a bit of a pain not being able to visually check without taking half of the car apart !! A friend suggested as the fluid may have boiled, it might be an idea to drain the system and put some dot 5.1 in. Thoughts ??

I would change the fluid...see how you get on before doing anything else.

matacaibo · Jun 26, 2010

The Happy Camper said:
Well thanks to all who replied - I'm still really not sure what to do here. We travelled home problem free (avoiding any steep hills), and have had no problems since. It's a bit of a pain not being able to visually check without taking half of the car apart !! A friend suggested as the fluid may have boiled, it might be an idea to drain the system and put some dot 5.1 in. Thoughts ??

I wouldn't mess with it too much either, take a spare with you in case it does let go , about £60. You are bound to find a Frog blacksmith who can fix it if you have the part

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